Harlequins battle hard to edge 14-man Racing
1450098174
Harlequins 14-10 Racing 92
Harlequins produced a spirited performance in dire conditions to earn an important win against Racing 92.
Quins led early as hooker George Head showed a clean pair of heels to burst over from 40 metres, but a Finn Russell penalty and Kitione Kamikamica try put the visitors in front at the break.
But after Quins regained the lead through André Esterhuizen, Kamikamica was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Nick David and Harlequins held on for a hard-fought victory.
The win puts Quins in sixth spot, while winless Racing will head into their next fixture against the same opposition at home in second bottom in Pool A.
Racing respond to Head stunner
Head’s early try came out of nowhere, a simple miss pass from Danny Care deceiving three Racing defenders defending closest to the ruck, before the hooker showed a brilliant turn of pace to sprint in.
But the visitors responded well to conceding the try, and Russell knocked over a penalty before the quarter-hour mark to cut the deficit.
Quins came back on the attack, but after a series of scrums that lasted for nearly ten minutes on their opposition’s line the chance was gone as Dombrandt knocked on and Racing were soon back in the hosts’ territory.
And it was the Parisians that went into half-time ahead with Kamikamica making it over with one of the last plays of the second-half after Racing had repeatedly peppered the Quins line at the driving maul.
Red card and maul defence see home side win
It was ironic that Racing’s scorer was soon to go from hero to zero, and that it was their failure at the maul which blighted their attack in the second half, having served them so well on the stroke of half-time.
Quins repeatedly found different ways to legally stop Racing driving over again, having taken the lead themselves through Esterhuizen.
The South African inside centre scored off the back of a stable scrum, with the try initially having not been awarded for being held up.
But it was clear he had scored and there were no more points in the game as Quins repeatedly resisted their hosts, help by Kamikamica’s red card.
Racing’s number eight was sent off soon after Esterhuizen’s red as he lifted up David, who landed on the top of his back as he was tipped over.
And the red card was crucial to the final outcome, with Racing’s pack subsequently underpowered up front on a day where the forward battle was key in the conditions.
