England star Marcus Smith shone in Harlequins’ 28-24 victory over Glasgow Warriors, sealing their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
Smith built up a 21-7 interval lead for Quins, with the fly-half scoring two tries and a dynamic solo score to put Quins in complete control of the last-16 encounter.
But at the Stoop, where they almost lost a 37-point lead against Bath in the Premiership six days ago, another implosion left fans in the lurch.
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Johnny Matthews and George Horne pounced on Glasgow and the United Rugby Championship second-placed side were back in the lead when Horne converted a penalty in the 60th minute.
However, Harlequins made another great escape with substitute hooker Sam Riley brought on with five minutes left and man-of-the-match Smith converted, sealing a place in the last eight against Saracens or Bordeaux Begles. Ta.
Evidence of what would be a high-scoring match was seen in the third minute when fly-half Tom Jordan danced his way through the home defense as a prelude and locked in Scott Cummings’ cross from close range.
Quins’ fragility was on display and although they showed more intent in sustained attacks, a lack of discipline and poor execution twice allowed Glasgow to escape.
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The match continued at a frenetic pace, with Glasgow lacking the skill to match their ambitions in one move, but Quins beat a promising move down the right flank and Kaydan Marley tipped the ball over the line. I saw it drop.
However, the pressure on the visitors’ whitewash increased and there was a crack in the 23rd minute when Andre Esterhuizen collected Smith’s chip and touched down into the right-hand corner.
Taking advantage of Sione Tuipulotu’s offside sin-binning, Smith then danced around four tacklers and even had time to recover the ball that flew out of his hands before touching down as Quins attacked from a five-metre scrum. Ta.
Zinc🕺
Juggle 🤹@MarcuSmith10 That’s where I show off my skills 👏#HARvGLA #InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/AK56ei5jUz
— TNT Sports Rugby (@rugbyontnt) April 5, 2024
And on the stroke of half-time they scored their third try. In slippery conditions, Smith’s sharp hands brought Marley close to the line with a lineout drive before an easy finish.
Glasgow took the lead after half-time and were rewarded with a maul try from Matthews in the 50th minute, making the score difference less ominous when Horne converted.
The score was level two minutes later, with Horne converting a bold move down the left flank to extend his own try.
Quins wobbled and their ability to take a big lead was once again on display, and Horne’s penalty put the Scottish team back in front, but Joe Marler was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Rory Darge.
Glasgow looked for a blinding score but instead had a chance to get past Reilly when Quins ran out of their own half and full-back Josh McKay fumbled in the backfield.
team
Harlequin: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Lewis Reiner, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kaydan Marley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Stefan Lewis (c), 5 George Hammond, 4 Arne Herbst, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Finn Baxter
Replacement: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Joe Launchberry, 20 Will Trenholm, 21 Tom Roday, 22 Max Green, 23 Cameron Anderson
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (c), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Lowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Xander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacement: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Lucio Soldoni, 19 Sintu Mangezi, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Jamie Dobbie, 23 Duncan Weir
Referee: Toual Trainy (France)
Assistant referee: Ludovic Caillet (France), Flavien Urke (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzan (France)
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