UK Edition
Harlequins 28 Leicester 31: 'Boot boy' Marcus Smith shines but George Ford kicks Tigers to victory
Eddie Jones declared on Friday that Harlequins starlet Marcus Smith would spend much of his time in England’s training camp in Oxford this week cleaning the boots of George Ford.
You can understand Jones’ desire to keep a lid on the hype surrounding the 18-year-old fly-half. The England head coach insisted he is currently only his fifth-choice No 10, but, with the World Cup clock ticking, it will be a surprise if he does not make his international debut this season.
Jones is looking for an X-factor for his squad to take to Japan in 2019 and, here at The Stoop, Smith gave glimpses of that future with a creditable and dashing performance against England’s first choice 10.
It was hard for the eye not to be drawn to the enigmatic Smith, with his Tintin quiff and electric pace matched by his laser-accurate distribution and bundles of energy.
Smith’s goal kicking was immaculate and his quick-thinking and distribution helped create the second-half try by Mat Luamanu. Nor did he not shirk his defensive responsibilities either, on one occasion recovering possession in front of the Harlequins posts after Ben Youngs had sniped his way through and chipped ahead for Ford to chase.
Yet Smith experienced the harsh realities of professional rugby as well on what was just his fourth Premiership appearance, limping off in the 50th minute after picking up an injury as he kicked a restart.
John Kingston, Harlequins’ director of rugby, insisted the injury was not serious and expected Smith to be able to meet up with the 33-man England squad on Sunday night.
“Marcus was purely precautionary, he was tight around the calf area and for me the last thing I want is for him to carry on and pull a muscle,” said Kingston. “He could have carried on but was cramping a bit.
“Marcus was excellent, he did what was asked of him. His development as a player is continuing to go forward.
“I understand the attention he's getting because he's started the season strongly and is doing so well.”
When Smith went over Harlequins were in full pomp, leading by 10 points and seemingly on course to underscore their impressive start to their league campaign. Leicester, and Ford, had other ideas however.
Ford was content to operate superbly away from the spotlight, landing four penalties, including the winning kick at the death, while his defensive work matched his game management during a crazy final quarter as Leicester snatched their second successive victory.
“George is phenomenal,” said Leicester director of rugby Matt O’Connor. “He is the best student of the game I have worked with. His commitment to driving the standards and making sure he leaves no stone unturned is second to none. He managed the game at stages brilliantly and is a class act.”
O’Connor felt the turning point of the match came when Jonny May out-sprinted Marland Yarde as Leicester responded to two quick tries by Danny Care and Mat Laumanu to claw their way back into a game that looked as if it was drifting away from them.
“The work Jonny did to get under the sticks was massive because those two points (the conversion) were always going to be massive. You would never question the commitment of the group. It was a tough game of footy and both teams had good intentions about playing with the ball in hand and challenging the opposition defensively. It was a good spectacle and we were quite fortunate to win at the end.”
It made for difficult viewing for Kingston, who said his side had to learn from the hurt of the defeat. There were more injury concerns too with Chris Robshaw suffering concussion and Mike Brown aggravating an ankle injury.
Inevitably there were key decisions that could have ensured the result went the other way, most notably when Ellis Genge and Telusa Veainu escaped from conceding a penalty after Marland Yarde had chipped ahead and was tackled without the ball. Leicester counter-attacked and Nick Malouf won a penalty that resulted in Ford’s fourth and decisive penalty.
Veainu was Leicester’s most potent attacking threat, almost singlehandedly scoring their first try, which helped his side to an 11-9 lead at the interval, and creating several other opportunities with his powerful running and jinking change of direction.
Smith had shown several neat touches in that first half. His first act of the afternoon was to ghost into half a space between two Leicester forwards, then send Jack Clifford through the line. Moments later a deft chip forced May to back track towards his own line and as Leicester attempted to clear their lines they conceded a penalty. Smith landed the simple conversion and the Harlequins faithful cheered his name.
Ford, however, was able to respond with a penalty of his own as Quins conceded a scrum penalty from the restart and it was Leicester who snatched the momentum from their hosts. Ford kicked two penalties to the corner and from the second line-out, Ford found May who put Veainu into space and the Leicester full-back squeezed over.
The Smith show looked set for the perfect finish when Quins took control of the contest at the start of the second half but there were still plenty of twists. A scrummaging mess saw both Will Collier and Genge sent to the sin-bin while Dan Cole was also lucky not to go to the bin for a deliberate knock-on.
A superb try by Greg Bateman put Leicester in front and although Alofa Alofa briefly restored the lead for Quins, the late Ford show clinched victory.
Team details
Harlequins: M Brown; M Yarde, J Marchant, J Roberts, C Walker, M Smith (D Lewis 50), D Care; M Lambert (L Boyce 68), R Buchanan (D Ward 59), W Collier (K Sinckler 50), G Merrill, J Horwill, C Robshaw (B Glynn 48), J Clifford, M Luamanu
Leicester Tigers: T Veainu; N Malouf, M Smith, M Toomua, J May; G Ford, B Youngs; E Genge (G Bateman 50-60), T Youngs (H Thacker 55), D Cole , H Wells, D Barrow, M Williams, D Ryan, S Kalamafoni.
Referee: I Tempest (RFU)
Attendance: 14,000
Harlequins 28-28 Leicester Tigers, 69 minutes
Carnage. CARNAGE. Harlequins win a breakdown turnover and that is only the beginning of the chaos. Mathew Tait storms through to make a huge tackle but Harlequins work the ball to Yarde, who chips over the top and seems to be hit by Veainu.
George Ford then kicks downfield, Nick Malouf runs through to collect and Harlequins infringe at the breakdown. That could have been a yellow card.
Meanwhile, Mike Brown is limping badly.
Matt Smith replaces Mat Tait for a HIA, but is not fit enough for Joe Ford will be on instead.
Penalty, George Ford! Harlequins 28-28 Leicester Tigers, 66 minutes
Matt Toomua carries hard off the scrum. Jamie Roberts makes the tackle but cannot roll away. Ford levels it up. Harry Thacker is back off for Leicester, as is Dan Cole. Tom Youngs comes back on and Logo Mulipola joins the game as well.
Try, Greg Bateman! Harlequins 21-25 Leicester Tigers, 57 minutes
What a game this is. Leicester are thriving in the open expanses with George Ford pulling the strings very nicely. The fly-half goes to the line and sends Bateman scurrying through. Mike Brown cannot bring him down and, with Ford's conversion, tigers have a four-point lead.
Yellow cards, Will Collier (Harlequins), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
Ian Tempest has had enough of the scrum re-sets. He's sin-binned two props.
Kyle Sinckler comes on and wins a penalty immediately. Then has a bit of a swear. He's fired up.
Marcus Simth has also left the field. That looks like a muscular injury to his right leg.
Harlequins 9-8 Leicester Tigers, 32 minutes
Referee Ian Tempest penalises Leicester from the same five-metre scrum! Ellis Genge looks incredulous.
Harlequins are into their expansive shape from the ensuing lineout with Jack Clifford throwing a lovely offload to Jamie Roberts. There is a knock-on, though. Back to a Leicester scrum...and another penalty to the visitors.
Ben Coles at the Twickenham Stoop
"Hard to know what to make of Nick Malouf before the start of the season, one of Leicester's more unknown signings in recent seasons having arrived from Australia Sevens. He looks sharp and strong though in the contact, with Matt O'Connor nearby to where I'm sitting regularly praising Nick 'Magalouf'"
Harlequins 9-8 Leicester Tigers, 28 minutes
Mike Brown has turned the tetchy gauge up to 11. Leicester are allowed a chance to attack when Marland Yarde spills the restart and Telusa Veainu goes close again, only to be stopped by a high tackle. Penalty Leicester, but not before some handbags initiated by Mr Brown.
Harlequins 6-8 Leicester Tigers, 19 minutes
Wow. That is beauty and the beast from Leiecster. Telusa Veainu utterly shreds Harlequins, beating about five men before streaking into the hosts' half. He links with Jonny May, who throws a shocking pass that Nick Malouf cannot gather. Let off for Harlequins, who have lost Charlie Walker to a head injury assessment.
Ben Coles on Marcus Smith watch at the Twickenham Stoop
Two loop moves in that latest set of phases from Marcus Smith, with Harlequins keen to get the most out of Jamie Roberts as a dummy runner and keep Leicester's wider defence going. The home side are also notably opting for shorter restarts, which Smith has nailed so far.
Try, Telusa Veainu! Harlequins 3-8 Leicester Tigers, 10 minutes
The maul was sacked but Leicester react quickly. They go through a few punchy phases before spreading the ball right. Jonny May is off his wing in a second wave to create the extra man and Veainu shunts over from close range.
Ford's conversion misses, but his side have made a strong start.
John Kingston
"The start of the season, the first game, wasn't what we wanted. We're obviously pleased with the last two weeks. Last week's performance [against Wasps] was excellent but it's a fresh start today."
Kingston also says Kyle Sinckler, on the bench today, and Will Collier will be sharing a lot of game-time this season.
Another Leicester exit
Richard Blaze, Leicester's forwards coach, left the club this week with immediate effect - citing personal reasons as his reason for wanting to move on.
Ben Kay, a BT Sport pundit who also happens to be on the board of directors at Tigers, tells us that there was nothing sinister about Blaze's decision. Brett Deacon takes temporary charge of the Leicester pack.
45 minutes until kick-off
There are other players playing today.
Although their performance was far from polished, Leicester registered their first win of the Premiership campaign seven days ago against Gloucester.
Ben Youngs scored a couple of tries. He reckons his partnership with close mate - and England colleague - George Ford is growing all the time.
Boy wonder
Right, let's get this out the way early. Unless you have been living under a rock this week, you will have realised that there has been quite a lot of fuss about Harlequins' 18 year-old fly-half Marcus Smith.
Yesterday, he was named in England's 33-man squad for a two-day training camp in Oxford next week.
Last Sunday, he continued a promising start to the season with an assured showing against Wasps at the Ricoh Arena.
For a comprehensive Smith fact-file, click here.
Good afternoon
Hi there and welcome to the first Telegraph live text commentary of the fourth round of Aviva Premiership action.
We'll be tuning into Harlequins' meeting with Leicester Tigers, which promises to be extremely intriguing.
If these shots of Leicester arriving at the Twickenham Stoop are anything to go by, the conditions look fair. We might be in for a fast-paced cracker.