Marcus Smith produces timely reminder of his class as Harlequins sink Saracens

England fly-half marks 200th appearance in style

Marcus Smith celebrated his 200th Harlequins match in magnificent style. Perhaps there is a danger, at times, of taking his immense talent for granted, but the 27-year-old was simply unstoppable here. A powerful visiting Saracens side barely got a look-in, with Smith giving a reminder of his prodigious ability on the day Steve Borthwick names his England squad for a packed November schedule.

Smith’s sensational running, distribution and tactical kicking masterfully controlled Quins’ attack for a badly needed success. They were nought from three in the league, and this was a vital result for more important reasons than Smith’s personal prestige on a milestone occasion. Smith is marginally the youngest Harlequin to make it to 200 matches: a couple of months younger than Mike Brown.

Defensive discipline and forward muscle was just as important to this result as the customary soft hands and creative vision. As it turned out, thrashing a heavily rotated Vannes in the Champions Cup last weekend was the tonic Quins needed.

This is only one victory in a long campaign, but the storm clouds that were gathering around Jason Gilmore, the head coach – not to mention the rest of the club’s hierarchy – have cleared to some extent.

Saracens, despite the presence of the England captain Maro Itoje, George Martin alongside him at lock, and Ben Earl at No 8, struggled to make a meaningful impact – hardly helped by their rank indiscipline, with Earl and Fergus Burke shown yellow cards before half-time.

Brendan Venter’s rotation policy may begin to raise a few eyebrows: Noah Caluori, Owen Farrell and Charlie Bracken were on the pitch doing shuttle runs 10 minutes before kick-off, after the visiting matchday squad jogged to the changing room to complete their preparations. There aren’t many clubs who would ignore players of that quality as a matter of course.

Before this, the Prem weekend action had been characterised by seriously stormy weather and some old-fashioned wrestles in challenging conditions at Welford Road and Ashton Gate, which hardly favoured free-flowing rugby.

A stiff breeze remained in south-west London but the appearance of the sun appeared to play into Quins’ hands. Smith proved the point within three minutes, starting an attack down the left before ruthlessly capitalising on slick handling from George Furbank and Cadan Murley to sprint over. The crowd were on their feet and the tone was set.

Fin Baxter, the prop returning from a 10-month injury layoff, soon demonstrated Quins are about more than silky skill, producing an impressively muscular carry in the 22 before a delightful one-handed offload for Seb Driscoll, the openside flanker, who smashed through the Sarries No 9, Tomos Williams, and over the line.

The wing Rotimi Segun did get Saracens on the board with a fine twisting finish after the visitors worked through the phases into the Quins’ 22, with Martin, Rhys Carré and Theo Dan all making inroads before Williams’ looping pass to the left wing.

But Quins, as if to prove another point, soon went to the driving maul at the other end, culminating in a penalty try and Earl sent to the sin bin for collapsing it, mindlessly, when a try looked certain anyway.

Smith’s afternoon got better when Max Malins was sent cantering over the try-line thanks to more sharp work by Segun: the England fly-half, hungry to make an impact in defence, chased a seemingly lost cause and batted the ball out Malins’ hands to the delight of home fans.

Saracens’ media strategy has been the subject of much debate recently and a three-word message on social media this week – “Their cup final” – had raised the pre-match temperature. Rather like Northampton’s Henry Pollock and his embarrassing involvement in a scuffle at Leicester on Saturday – that only served to fire up the Tigers – it was a provocative move from Saracens that seemed to backfire spectacularly.

Before half-time, Burke was shown a yellow card for an upright tackle on Rodrigo Isgró before Cadan Murley pounced for Quins’ fourth try. Bonus point secured, 26-5 at half-time, and interval drinks much enjoyed by the home fans. Saracens had missed 22 tackles and conceded 10 penalties.

On 55 minutes Quins twisted the knife. Williams flung a pass out for Segun on the Saracens left, where the wing knocked it on: but Will Porter, the Quins No 9, kicked ahead, collected the ball and took advantage of some noticeably half-hearted defending to score Quins’ fifth. It was a ragged effort from Saracens, and will be a horrible one to reflect on in their post-match analysis.

Tottenham’s 2-0 win against Chelsea on Saturday – another significant London derby – was distinctly un-Spursy. Here was a heartening, and notably un-Quinsy, victory for Smith, the player of the match, and his men.