Quins first half blows Red Bulls away

This afternoon saw Newcastle Red Bulls travel to London to take on a hot and cold Harlequins side. Unfortunately for Red Bulls, Quins ran hot.

Dominant first half for Quins

Marcus Smith was allowed to run the show in the first half, he was the catalyst as Quins cut Red Bulls to shreds. It just didn't look like being Red Bulls day and this was no more than when Benitez Cruz was trying to shepherd the ball into touch and his fellow Argentinian Isgro used some footballing skills to score. When your luck's out, it's out.

Disappointing Red Bulls

As good as Quins were, at times Red Bulls were their own worst enemy. As with Northampton, there were chances for Red Bulls in the opposition half but mistakes were causing frustration. This along with the dual jackal threat of Will Evans and Jack Kenningham meant Red Bulls were vulnerable. You couldn't really argue with Red Bulls going in 35-0 down at half time. Other than the odd Mafi rumble forward there wasn't a lot to shout about. Unfortunately the carrying options in the team seem to be mainly through Mafi which means teams know what's coming.

Quins turn the screw

Quins started the second half with a strong driving maul and then earnt a penalty on the back of that, where they kicked to the corner and the maul drove over the line. The Red Bulls lineout was under pressure, meaning a struggle for a platform to attack from.

A lack of pattern to the play

Red Bulls did get some possession, at times though it was as though the player receiving the ball was surprised to have it and they just ran straight at the defence. As I said in my preview, when they did play against Northampton they looked dangerous. Unfortunately it's the inconsistency of the attack that frustrates people. If you look at how Quins and Saints attack you can see it's making defences think, more often than not a Red Bull attack is easy for an opposition defence to read.

The bench adds some energy

Red Bulls used the bench in the second half and I thought Ollie Fletcher and Freddie Lockwood carried well and added some energy. This energy from the bench did lead to a late Ollie Leatherbarrow try which was converted by Connon. In the final play of the game, popular prop Murray McCallum rumbled over and this was converted by Connon to take a final score to 52-14 to Harlequins.

The Smith show

Although Quins did drop off in the second half, everything good came through Marcus Smith. He needed a big afternoon after Fin Smith had a good game for Saints last night, he's in a three way battle for an England squad place with George Ford also in the reckoning. The other impressive Quins man was Tyrone Green on his one hundredth appearance for Quins, his running caused Red Bulls problems before he went off injured.

This is different

The one thing to remember is with the Red Bull investment, better things are to come. This is different to previous seasons where investment was needed but not knowing where it was coming from. Short term though things will improve as players come back from injury and new players arrive. But you can still see it being a difficult season for Red Bulls. So it's a case of being patient and knowing that better times are ahead.

Next up

Next up sees Leicester Tigers coming to Kingston Park next Friday in The Prem Cup. I expect after a brutal first block of games some players will be rested and others will get a chance to show what they're about. The likes of Nathan Greenwood could add some spark to Kingston Park on halloween!