Harlequins 24 – 7 Glasgow: Warriors Player Ratings as Quins win to qualify for Champions Cup last 16

Today at 08:46 AM

By George Wellbelove

Harlequins defeated Glasgow Warriors in a vastly improved performance as they progressed to the round of 16 in the Investec Champions Cup.

Quins came into the match wanting a bonus point win to firmly secure qualification into the knockout rounds, but with results going their way, only a win was needed. Whilst they did not get the elusive five points, the home side recorded a 24-7 win, which will be a key moment in their campaign after weeks of inconsistent showings.

Chandler Cunningham-South opened the scoring when he crashed over from short range after a period of intense Harlequins pressure. Marcus Smith was able to add the extras.

Glasgow were able to rally back briefly but James Chisholm took the steam out of the Scottish sails when he combined brilliantly with Cunningham-South to dive over. The makeshift second row received an awesome one-handed offload and showed excellent speed to race away from the onrushing defenders.

The visitors hit back in stunning fashion when Tom Jordan flew over the line after a stunning passage of play. Stafford McDowall started the move with a beautiful pass to Kyle Rowe, who then helped it on to Jamie Dobie. The scrumhalf popped a nonchalant basketball-esque pass to Jordan, who happily received in great stride.

The second half of the match was marked by looseness and open field. Nick David and Cadan Murley often found themselves in space, with the latter crossing for his 60th Harlequins try. The pacey winger found himself in acres of space and sprinted fifty metres to easily score in the corner.

With momentum in their hands, Quins continued to search for the all important fourth try. An 80th minute scrum deep in Glasgow territory unfornuately did not result in a try and Ben Afshar cleared the ball away to signal the end of the match.

Glasgow end their Champions Cup group stage in second place, with tonight’s loss to Quins being inconsequential. Harlequins will be pleased after a season of conflicting performances has set their domestic run off balance.

Read our stats and player ratings down below.

HARLEQUINS: 24

Tries: 3 (Cunningham-South 13′, Chisholm 18′, Murley 67′

Conversions: 3 (Smith 14′, 19′, 68′)

Penalties: 1 (Smith 25′)

Drop Goals: 0

Yellow Cards: 0

Red Cards: 0

Starting XV: 15. Tyrone Green 14. Nick David 13. Oscar Beard 12. Ben Waghorn 11. Cadan Murley 10. Marcus Smith 9. Will Porter 1. Fin Baxter 2. Jack Walker 3. Tito Lamisotele 4. James Chisholm 5. Stephan Lewies 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 7. Jack Kenningham 8. Alex Dombrandt

Replacements: 16. Sam Riley 17. Wyn Jones 18. Simon Kerrod 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Tom Lawday 21. Will Evans 22. Danny Care 23. Jarrod Evans

GLASGOW WARRIORS: 7

Tries: 1 (Jordan 28′)

Conversions: 1 (Jordan 29′)

Penalties: 0

Drop Goals: 0

Yellow Cards: 0

Red Cards: 0

Starting XV: 15. Josh McKay 14. Sebastian Cancelliere 13. Huw Jones 12. Stafford McDowall 11. Kyle Rowe 10. Tom Jordan 9. Jamie Dobie; 1. Rory Sutherland 2. Johnny Matthews 3. Zander Fagerson 4. Euan Ferrie 5. Scott Cummings 6. Matt Fagerson 7. Rory Darge 8. Jack Dempsey

Replacements: 16. Gregor Hiddleston 17. Jamie Bhatti 18. Sam Talakai 19. Alex Samuel 20. Gregor Brown 21. Henco Venter 22. Ben Afshar 23. Duncan Weir

GLASGOW WARRIORS PLAYER RATINGS

15. Josh McKay – 6

A fairly diffcult game for the full back. Had a golden opportunity to respond straight after Harlequins’ first score but inexplicably passed the ball to no one after a promising break. Largely went missing in other passages of attack too.

14. Sebastian Cancelliere – 5

The Argentine was shut down fully by opposing number Cadan Murley. Not a lot that he could do considering Murley’s strengths in attack and defence.

13. Huw Jones – 5.5

Not the return to the Stoop he would have wanted. The former Quin had little to no impact on the match and could not make an impact in the match.

12. Stafford McDowall – 7

Arguably Glasgow’s best player on the night. A great pass to Rowe for their only try and was elusive in the centres. A lot of skill on show and he was able to demonstrate his attacking game with a series of deft chips. Job well done.

11. Kyle Rowe – 6

Had a couple of moments where he found himself in lots of space as the game began to unravel. Gave away a penalty for colliding with Nick David in the air after mistiming his jump.

10. Tom Jordan – 6.5

Scorer of Glasgow’s only try and did well to run a good supporting line. He commanded his side well but missed that little bit extra to take them all the way. A few errrors too with a kicks going dead, missing touch and dropping the ball which gave Quins the upper edge in the territory battle.

9. Jamie Dobie – 6

Basketball style offload to send Jordan through for Glasgow’s try. After this, however, Dobie went largely missing in the match and was moved to the wing to accomodate Ben Asfar coming onto the field.

1. Rory Sutherland – 6

Gave a cheap penalty away for blocking Tyrone Green’s kick chase in the first half. Held his own in the scrum and was a nuisance around the breakdown too. Often found in off the ball scraps, whether this was to the respect of his teammates or the detriment of his side.

2. Johnny Matthews – 6

Operated decently well but let down by a series of not straight throws at the lineout. Had to come back on after being subbed as Gregor Hiddleston suffered an injury.

3. Zander Fagerson – 4.5

Do not think he was mentioned once in the match. Nothing more to say.

4. Euan Ferrie – 5

Overshadowed, outworked and outtackled by his Harlequins counterparts. Could not bring his usual workhorse attitude and it showed.

5. Scott Cummings – N/A

Unfortunate night for the second rower, who was forced off after nine minutes with an arm injury.

6. Matt Fagerson – 6.5

Lovely hands for his side to try and exploit the space on the pitch. Put in some good hits and did a lot of the unseen work. Decent display.

7. Rory Darge – 5

Not the performance he would have wanted with the Six Nations so near. Could not cope with Harlequins’ quick ball.

8. Jack Dempsey – 5.5

Much like Darge, Dempsey really needed this match to highlight his form. Was not helped by the Quins pack being on brilliant form.

REPLACEMENTS – 4.5

The substitutes did not have the desired effect on the match that Franco Smith would have wanted. A bomb squad style replacement in the 55th minute simply did not work and showed with repeated infringements at the scrum and lineout. The 6-2 split did not function well and Quins were able to run ragged around them. Missed tackles often gave the home side momentum. It seemed as though the team went backwards when the bench was emptied and they were not at their best. Credit to Harlequins for their strong work; Glasgow simply could not keep up with them, despite their record of scoring an average of four tries per match in this year’s edition of the Champions Cup.

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