England Sevens star Richard Haughton's late try rescued a share of the points
for Saracens in their Boxing Day battle with Harlequins at Vicarage Road.
Both sides' deficiencies in the Premiership were showcased in a game littered
with unforced errors that Saracens led for an hour thanks to a Glen Jackson
penalty.
The game exploded into life in the final quarter when Gavin Duffy's try and a
Jeremy Staunton drop-goal appeared to have sewn up a win for the visitors.
But although Haughton levelled the scores, Jackson's conversion attempt
bounced away off the bar to leave both sides three points better off.
Quins will probably feel happiest after their dismal first-half performance
and the draw nudges them up to ninth in the table.
Both these sides have had more than their fair share of problems this year,
making their meeting at Watford one of the key games of the campaign in the
lower reaches of the table.
Harlequins suffered a nightmare start to the season before adding some new
recruits and finding some form with three successive league wins, including the
40-10 victory over Saracens in November which included four tries in 14
minutes.
Saracens, meanwhile, have registered only one league win since early October
in the league and this month parted company with coach Rod Kafer to leave former
Sale hooker Steve Diamond to take the reins.
Despite the high stakes, though, both sides struggled to find their rhythm in
a desperately poor opening period punctuated by mistakes.
Saracens were on top for long spells, particularly at scrum and line-out where
Harlequins prop Mike Worsley and hooker Ace Tiatia were both forced off before
the interval.
The only rewards were two penalty chances for Jackson. The former Waikato
fly-half pulled the first effort wide in the sixth minute, then stroked his side
into the lead six minutes later.
It was all the hosts could conjure in the first period despite Simon
Raiwalui's surges up the middle and some direct running from rugby league wing
Tevita Vaikona on the left.
On the half-hour, Vaikona's break set up a great attacking line-out five
metres from the Quins' try-line, only for Saracens to lose the ball when driving
for the line.
That summed up the game so far, as did the visible frustration of Tony Diprose
as the visitors continued to struggle at the line-out until Tiatia was withdrawn
in first-half injury-time.
Diprose and co did ignite a revival in the second half, with some more direct
attacks which saw Nick Easter drive to within a metre of the line and some
enterprise out wide from former Lions star Dafydd James.
Suddenly Quins struck down the right as Jeremy Staunton's cut-out pass found
Duffy, who weaved through some soft defending on a 30m burst to the line.
Duffy's 61st-minute score was his third try of the season and a neat piece of
opportunism for a player only added to the starting line-up after Ugo Monye
stepped down to have an abscess removed from a hand injury on Christmas Day.
Staunton could not add the conversion but did clip over a neat drop-goal to
give his side some breathing space 10 minutes from time.
It was the cue for Saracens' best spell of the game as they pulled Harlequins
apart on the left, with Kevin Sorrell going close, before the ball was moved
right with Thomas Castaignede's off-load creating the opening for Nick Lloyd to
put Haughton into the corner.
Jackson's conversion attempt bounced away off the bar leaving three minutes
plus stoppage time for the sides to break the deadlock.
Quins fly-half Staunton came closest when he fired off two speculative
drop-goal attempts but both comfortably missed the target.
Teams:
Saracens: Bartholomeusz, Haughton, Sorrell, Harris, Vaikona,
Jackson, Williams, Yates, Cairns, Visagie, S. Raiwalui,
Fullarton, Sanderson, Seymour, Randell.
Replacements: Castaignede for Harris (51),
Raulini for Williams (69), Lloyd for Yates (45),
Chesney for S. Raiwalui (72).
Not Used: Kyriacou, Skirving, Bailey.
Tries: Haughton.
Pens: Jackson.
Harlequins: Williams, Keogh, James, Deane, Duffy, Staunton,
So'oialo, Worsley, Tiatia, Jones, Winters, Maling, Easter, Vos,
Diprose.
Replacements: Dawson for Worsley (18), Hayter for Tiatia (39).
Not Used: Miall, Sherriff, Reay, Dunne, Barratt.
Tries: Duffy.
Drop Goals: Staunton.
Att: 9,285
Ref: Ashley Rowden (RFU).
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