Bristol v Harlequins: Five takeaways as Quins end year-long wait, spoiling Bears’ Big Day Out and silencing ‘unfair’ criticism
Harlequins captain Alex Dombrandt and an inset of Bristol Bears prop Ellis Genge.
Following Harlequins’ shock 18-14 victory over Bristol in the Gallagher PREM, here are our five takeaways from the Principality Stadium.
The top line
Alex Dombrandt returned to Cardiff, the city he called home in his university days, to lead Harlequins to an against-all-odds victory over Bristol and ruin Bears’ Big Day Out.
The England number eight achieved a 2:1 degree in sport and physical education at Cardiff Metropolitan, but even that paled alongside Quins’ achievement in so deservedly upsetting the form book.
They had not won away in the Gallagher Prem for more than a year, they had not won anywhere in the league since October, and they were without England stars Marcus Smith and Fin Baxter – forced to play wing Caden Murley in the centres.
Yet a first-half try from Dombrandt and one on the hour by Rodrigo Isgro proved too good for Pat Lam’s playoff-chasing Bears and sends Quins into their Champions Cup round of 16 clash against Sale Sharks next week in good heart.
Quins silence boo boys
Harlequins arrived in the Welsh capital smarting from criticism of a league campaign so poor that this weekend they could have dropped to the foot of the table.
Team captain Dombrandt admitted afterwards they had been fired up to ram the abuse back down their critics’ throats, whilst team boss Jason Gilmore said the humiliation of being thumped by Bristol at Twickenham in their own Big Game, had also fuelled them.
“There’s been a lot of outside noise about us the last few weeks,” Dombrandt told TNT Sports. “Some of it we’ll happily take on the chin, some of it’s been a bit unfair, if I’m being honest.
“It’s going to take a lot more than that to break this group. This group’s tight. A lot of respect for each other. We’ll work hard for each other. To come here, no-one gave us a chance. Really proud of the group.
“Hopefully that will keep some people quiet for another week or two.”
Gilmore, whose reappointment this week as head coach for next season was not met with widespread approval by Quins fans, admitted: “[The criticism] has been pretty constant. Look, it’s professional sport, we understand if you don’t deliver results that’s going to come onto you.
“But we were really disappointed in our Big Game against Bristol when we felt we really let our club down and our supporters in such a big occasion at Christmas. This is definitely one we wanted to get a bit of revenge in.”
Personal triumph for Dombrandt
The Quins captain has had a tough year, leading a side that has not been able to buy a win and, almost certainly as a by-product, losing his place in the England squad.
So this was a special day for the number eight, to set alongside Quins’ equally surprising Champions Cup win at La Rochelle in January. And Wales great Jamie Roberts, himself a former Harlequin, paid fulsome tribute.
“Harlequins were personified by this man’s effort today,” said Roberts. “He has demonstrated an unbelievable ability to galvanise this side today. A really, really impressive performance.
Dombrandt scored the visitor’s first try and would have had two had not a third-minute effort been chalked off for a holding offence committed by a teammate at the ruck.
“He has all the tools to be a top, top player,” added Roberts. England boss Steve Borthwick has preferred Ben Earl, Henry Pollock and even fellow Quin Chandler Cunningham-South in the 8 shirt this season. Much more of this and he might have to rethink.
Bristol fail to heed Genge’s words
Prior to kick-off, Ellis Genge had the following advice for his Bears teammates: “The shirt doesn’t need to get heavy because of the table”.
Bristol knew they were eight points outside the top four after wins for Exeter and Leicester and can not afford too many more missteps if they are to stay in the play-off hunt.
Yet against an opponent they stuck 40 points on at Allianz Stadium at Christmas, winning the match inside the first half when taking a 26-0 lead into the turnaround, the shirt appeared crushingly heavy.
Bristol, who go to Toulouse of all places in the Champions Cup next weekend, were inaccurate in every facet of their game under the Cardiff roof.
Their uncharacteristically sloppy performance summed up by Kalaveti Ravouvou slicing his chip into touch with the final act of the game as the ‘home’ side chased a winning score.
Their only consolation on an afternoon to forget came from Fitz Harding scoring their first try at exactly the time the Stadium put its hand together to celebrate the life of Matt Salter, a predecessor of his as Bristol captain.
Salter, a cross-code star who skippered Bears for four seasons between 2004-06, tragically passed away at the start of this month at the age of 49. The reception in the arena showed how much he meant to the club.
Warburton on WRU resignation
Bristol’s Big Day Out put rugby back on the agenda in the Welsh capital for the first time since the Six Nations and had former Wales skipper Sam Warburton responding to fresh turmoil in the corridors of power.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
A day before the two PREM sides rocked up, accompanied by some 40,000 travelling fans, Richard Collier-Keywood resigned as chair of the Welsh Rugby Union ahead of an extraordinary general meeting at which he faced a vote of no confidence.
“I’m not actually that surprised,” Warburton said. “I don’t think fans have lost trust in the players, but I think they lost trust in the hierarchy of the WRU. I think what people are craving for is someone to come into the WRU from within who understands Welsh rugby.
“A lot of people who’ve come in from the outside have treated Welsh rugby, in the eyes of fans, like a black and white P&L [profit and loss] sheet; made quite ruthless decisions and not explained the rationale behind them.”
The EGM was called in reaction to the WRU’s controversial plan to cut the number of professional teams from four to three by June of next year. That proposal has been met with protests, criticism and legal action.