mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Saracens player ratings: This was one of those afternoons when very little seemed to go right for Saracens. Harlequins repeatedly punished mistakes, won key collisions and exposed moments of indiscipline.
Rhys Carré was destructive at scrum time and Nick Tompkins continued to fight throughout, but too many leading players endured an unusually difficult day in west London, and this 33-15 defeat was the heaviest they have suffered against Quins in six years.
15. Max Mullins – 4
One of those horrible afternoons that everyone dreads. Missed tackles, missed tackles and, worst of all, dropped the ball over the line after failing to spot Marcus Smith trailing him. Smith’s intervention was brilliant, but Mullins won’t want to see it. Not all bad, but mostly bad.
14. Jack Bracken – 5.5
Caught out by Porter’s dodgy offside penalty and struggled to impose himself. Busy enough defensively but never got into the game.
13. Lucio Cinti – 5
Faded into the background. To be brutally honest, there were times when this evaluator had to check the notes to make sure he was still on the field.
12. Nick Tompkins – 7
One of the few Saracens defenders who constantly struggled. Bounced on a hard pass from Mullins and crossed for a vital second-half score to keep hopes alive.
11. Rotimi Segun – 6.5
Finished an excellent effort after some nice build-up involving Malins and Carré. He also made energetic contributions in attack and defense. One handling error later that gave Quins a try to kill the mark.
10. Fergus Burke – 5
Tough afternoon. Yellow card after a collision with Isgro and comprehensively outclassed by Marcus Smith in a scrum for the fly.
9. Tomas Williams – 5
He knocked the ball over after barely a minute, overcooked a shot and generally suffered one of those afternoons when little came. His interception and interception late in the first half were excellent, but could not save the overall rating.
1. Rhys Carré – 9
Outstanding. Absolutely demolished Ollie Streeter in scrum time on more than one occasion and popped up with a wonderful offload in the build-up to Segun’s try. One that the Saracens Quins striker never really solved.
2. According to Day – 5.5
A strange afternoon. He scored an important try before half-time and worked hard in open play, but the line-up looked like a clownish effort at times. Multiple miscues cost Saracens dear.
3. Markus Street – 7
Very solid. He effectively held his side of the scrum and quietly went about his business without much fuss. The scrum was one of Sarries’ only saving graces in this horror show.
4. Maro Itoje – 6.5
A mixed bag. He made an outstanding defensive read early, hit some big shots and caused problems at the line. Equally, he lost possession in midfield, was guilty of too many turnovers and looked a bit out of his usual standard at times.
5. George Martin – 5.5
A mountain of a man, but Saracens never got enough of him. Lost collisions you would normally expect him to win and struggled to make his usual physical impact.
6. Nathan Michelow – 6
He lost his way and introduced a diligent defense. I didn’t have much of a chance to shine with the ball in hand.
7. Andy Onyeama-Christie – 6
He showed good work at the breakdown after seven months after breaking his hand against Bristol. Unfortunately, his comeback came to an abrupt end after a nasty hit that opened him up and forced him out.
8. Ben Earl – 5
A failure to launch by his high standards. He got away with one foul before eventually getting booked for another. Worked hard, as always, but earned the ticket and never found the top gear.
Substitutions – 6
The bench brought a bit of fight, especially through Jamie George and others around the set-up, but they were never able to change the course of the contest. Saracens briefly threatened a comeback before Quins slammed the door again.