Harlequins v Saracens: Saturday 3pm

[Mikey Brown]

Was just going to say Gjaltema’s decision making has been questionable, but maybe he’d turn it around in this half. That was a Farrell-esque pass there.

[Puja]

Gjaltema deciding to repay the Farrell gifted try there. Bounce of the ball hated Quins twice in that move though.

Puja

[FKAS]

Was just going to say Gjaltema’s decision making has been questionable, but maybe he’d turn it around in this half. That was a Farrell-esque pass there.

Yeah, pretty much an own goal that one. Sarries gave a couple of gifts in the first half though.

[Mikey Brown]

Lolington

[Puja]

Theo McFarland's hands are just ridiculous. There's been about 5 times where he's casually taken a ball in one-handed with absolute control and security.

Puja

[Mr Mwenda]

Yes, very odd from gjaltema. It's not like if it had come off there'd've been much of a gain.

[FKAS]

Wow that's a very fortunate decision for Quins, neither player making any attempt to support their weight. Awful decision by van Zyl to make the pass to Mako given the amount of space out wide. Van Zyl given the shepherd's crook immediately after.

[Mikey Brown]

Monye talking sense on the kicking game. It’s been kind of aimless all match.

[Mr Mwenda]

Theo McFarland's hands are just ridiculous. There's been about 5 times where he's casually taken a ball in one-handed with absolute control and security.

Puja

Quite Hill-esque in providing the glue for the back row.

[Mikey Brown]

We looked pooped. Completely shapeless at the moment.

[Mellsblue]

Loz making Jones look pretty clever with his performance today.

[Mellsblue]

We looked pooped. Completely shapeless at the moment.

Yep but, in mitigation, there’s not much experience or leadership on the pitch.

[Mellsblue]

The “whooping and hollering” annoys me at the best of times but to whoop and holler when your actions have nothing to do with the turnover is ridiculous.

[FKAS]

The “whooping and hollering” annoys me at the best of times but to whoop and holler when your actions have nothing to do with the turnover is ridiculous.

I'm not a fan but 5m from your own line then if you can get a reaction out if the opposition chances are they'll be matched 10m back. Gives you a much better clearance to touch.

[Mikey Brown]

Ugh. Sloppy stuff. Again.

[Mellsblue]

The “whooping and hollering” annoys me at the best of times but to whoop and holler when your actions have nothing to do with the turnover is ridiculous.

I'm not a fan but 5m from your own line then if you can get a reaction out if the opposition chances are they'll be matched 10m back. Gives you a much better clearance to touch.

I appreciate why it’s done it just annoys me.

[Mr Mwenda]

Inevitable feeling at the end there.

[Mikey Brown]

“My condolences to the queen.” Lol

Sorry to hear that you are no longer alive.

That got a proper laugh from me. Really took the edge off the loss. So good to see Billy back to what he was too.

[Oakboy]

Just out of interest, is the banned double-roll guideline still in place? Billy V, at the end of his breakaway in about the 58th minute, finished with a clear one but was not penalised.

[Puja]

Please let this be on BT.

It is indeed. Really excited to see how Anyanwu goes in a big test.

Puja

Safe to say he is definitely gonna learn from this.

Yeah, that's probably the best take on it. I have to say I wasn't impressed with his movement off the ball - never seemed to be booking it to get back into position or into the defensive line. Some of that is inexperience and not having the experience and nous to be in the right place or even know where the right place to get to is based on the situation, but I suspect Eddie will also want to see him visibly work harder before he'll be interested. Lots of potential though.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

This is one I hope I end up eating my words over, but I don’t think Anyanwu is a player with the potential to play for England. I’ve followed his career closely and while I think he will be a useful asset for Quins, I don’t see him going beyond that. IMO, Hayden Hyde has more long term potential.

[FKAS]

This is one I hope I end up eating my words over, but I don’t think Anyanwu is a player with the potential to play for England. I’ve followed his career closely and while I think he will be a useful asset for Quins, I don’t see him going beyond that. IMO, Hayden Hyde has more long term potential.

I paid particular attention to the under 20s games with Kelly playing for Ireland under 20s as he was playing for Loughborough University at the time. Hyde looked awesome at the time and I was waiting to hear the name come through at Ulster and then Quins but at 22 he's yet to start a league or European game. Bit surprised by that but there must be some underlying issues his coaches aren't happy with.

Anyanwu, he very much looked the rookie and the Quins backline defence wasn't good and was ruthlessly targeted by Sarries.

[fivepointer]

I'd cut Anyanwu some slack. It was only his second start and the rest of the Quins line up hardly excelled. They badly missed their regular 9,10 and 12 and were second best all game, i thought. The scoreline flattered them a bit.
Saracens played some nice stuff. A bit more ambition than we've seen before.

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah, even at the best of times I’ve wondered what it is we’re actually doing in defence. We’ve just been lucky to have Esterhuizen’s freakish abilities papering over the cracks. Obviously Anyanwu has had some hype (as I think any EQP 12 will do) but I wouldn’t be too focussed on him.

It was a strange game on the scoreboard. Ahead for most of it, but Sarries had a pretty solid foothold on the pace of the game after the opening 20. Typical Saracens I guess. The way their forwards carry, support and present the ball so efficiently is hard not to admire.

This game also made me realise I have no idea what refs are looking at most of the time when mauls go down. Some days every collapsed maul is presumed to be taken down illegally by the opposition, but I guess ours was just bad yesterday and collapsing on its own?

[Timbo]

Some ominous signs from Sarries in there I thought. When they are on it they are by some way still the best team in England imo.

Quins are a team built around that 8,9,10,12 axis, and to be without all 4 in that second half pretty much hobbled them. They need to get that core back on the pitch asap.