Of all the 200 games in Marcus Smith’s highlight reel, none have delivered a moment quite like this.
Since he was a teenager, the Harlequins No 10 has wowed the Stoop with his box of tricks in attack.
Yet the moment that epitomised Harlequins’ derby day victory came in defence – at the expense of Saracens full-back Max Malins. Midway through the first-half, Malins was nonchalantly coasting under the posts to score.
Smith arrived from the blindside and whacked the ball out of his grasp. No try. It was reminiscent of the showboating blooper that stalked Freddie Burns through the latter half of his career and it will leave a similar knot in Malins’ stomach.
‘They’re statements, aren’t they?’ said Harlequins coach Jason Gilmore. Everyone knows Harlequins, when they’re at their best, can play a really free-flowing rugby but we’ve got to have grit on the other side of the ball. Credit to Jordan Turner Hall who is doing a great job with our defence.
That moment just sets a standard for the boys. If Smithy’s not going to die on plays then we’re in the contest. I thought that was a really big statement for our boys.’
Marcus Smith (left) took advantage of Max Malins’ nonchalance to tackle him and stop what should have been a certain try for the Saracens man
Saracens head coach Joe Shaw added: ‘Max could have got that 99 times out of 100. Of course it is frustrating. We weren’t playing our best but we were still in touching distance. Max is 30 years old. We have all messed up. But we lost the game as a collective not because Max did not put the ball down.’
This was Smith at his fiery best, finely timed before England gather for their autumn camp on Monday morning.
He linked up with Cadan Murley, his old housemate, to score the first try after three minutes. Harlequins never relinquished their lead.
‘I think Danny Care is the quintessential Harlequin but Smithy’s number two,’ added Gilmore, whose side lost their opening three games of the season.
‘The work that Smithy puts in, the care that he has for the club… he’s only 27 and he’s played 200 games for us. He’s come back from a broken finger and led us around the park really well.’
On paper, George Martin and Maro Itoje looked like they would bully the Harlequins pack. This was their first start together at club level and they lacked cohesion.
Instead, it was the likes of Fin Baxter – making his first appearance for 10 months – and Seb Driscoll who dominated the collisions. They forced errors in the tackle and won key turnovers in defence. It was a day when the hosts delivered both style and substance.
The hosts beat defenders in the tackle, providing the go-forward that allowed Smith to cut open the Saracens defence.
Fin Baxter (ball carrier) made his first appearance for 10 months and impressed
Ben Earl and Fergus Burke were sin-binned in the first-half as Saracens’ discipline slipped. They conceded nine penalties in the opening 27 minutes, helping Harlequins rack up the bonus-point try before half time, when Baxter was withdrawn early.
‘We were looking at giving Fin 40 to 50 minutes,’ revealed Gilmore, who expected Steve Borthwick to pick Baxter against Australia next month. ‘We don’t want to be too greedy. We haven’t had him for a while. Having our top props on the radar will be massive for us.
‘I thought he came back and played really strongly. You bang another game into him against a big Exeter pack next week – hopefully push him to 50 or 60 minutes. Then it’s up to Steve. We’ve just got to make sure we don’t overload him too early but I’d certainly back him.’
Harlequins described this game as their ‘cup final’. They beat Saracens at home last season – before winning just one league game in the following five months. Their challenge now is to prove this performance was not an anomaly.
Saracens have lost three games from five this season and they too are left searching for consistency. They have committed to a policy to rotate their team for the first nine games of the season and the lack of cohesion is beginning to cost them.
Smith was at his fiery best for Harlequins in their victory over Saracens at The Stoop
Noah Caluori, Alfie Barbeary, Owen Farrell and Charlie Bracken were all rested this weekend but Shaw defended his team’s policy: ‘We have chopped and changed, so I understand why people are asking. That’s how it was a decade ago.
‘It’s not some random thing we’re trying to be quirky with. We believe there is merit in what we’re doing. We know our cohesion numbers aren’t as high as somebody like Gloucester.
‘Our strategy is to have a strong group, with depth, but you have to perform to keep your seat in the latter half of the season. That’s harder to say on days like this. You can’t sugar coat it. It was a disappointing day at the office for us.’
