On paper, a nondescript fixture between two sides trying to reach the giddy heights of mid-table; in reality, another nailbiter for the England head coach, Eddie Jones. There are always his notorious training camps to worry about, but this is the last weekend of competitive action for his ever-diminishing stock of players to negotiate before the autumn internationals next month – and here there were six of his squad hoping not to add their names to the sick list.
The initial prognosis is good. No England players left in distress. But one – you know who – very nearly left in disgrace. Joe Marler managed, just, to avoid a second yellow in the final quarter, which would have meant red, which would have meant ban.
His yellow card in the first half was a standard collapsing of a maul, the result of an accumulation of team indiscipline. Thus vulnerable to any further indiscretion, he got away with cautions in the second half for grappling with an opponent on the floor and then shoving another, Ryan Lamb, in the back long after the ball had gone. It did not seem a violent shove, but Lamb, who had had a head injury assessment a few minutes earlier, was withdrawn because of it.
Marler didn’t take either lecture like a good boy. He has worked hard on discipline, which in his case means more than just staying onside, but there remains the air of an unexploded bomb about him. It is a wonder John Kingston, Quins’ director of rugby, kept him on till as late as the 75th minute. “He’d already had a 10-minute rest,” Kingston said, “and he hasn’t played a huge amount of rugby.
“Joe’s a combative sort who knows where he’s at. He sails quite close to things, but that’s his job.”
Otherwise, it was a good day for all the England boys, Marler included, although the most eye-catching was the performance of the one without any caps as yet. Ben Te’o has missed a fair bit of the early season, but on this form he appears a live option for England’s midfield. That said, his afternoon was soured in the final quarter, when Joe Marchant, an EPS member but not in the squad for the autumn, outpaced him in a 50-yard sprint for Quins’ bonus-point try.
That sealed a relatively comfortable win for the London club, but Worcester never quite went away. Certainly, they were more than a match in the first half. Their bundle of muscle at No12 warmed up with a couple of quick-stepping hit‑ups early on, but Te’o’s highlight in that period was the line he cut in the 10th minute, bursting through the tackle of Luke Wallace. The Quins defence was breached, and Jackson Willison collected his pass for a canter to the posts.
By then Quins were already 7-0 up, courtesy of another England player and a Scotland one. Danny Care was on hand to collect an inside ball from Tim Visser, after the latter had intercepted deep in his own half.
Despite the early promise, the game soon meandered into something more in keeping with the lower‑table encounter that it was. We had to wait until the second half before that promise was fully realised. A sweeping attack from Harlequins, featuring James Chisholm and Chris Robshaw down the left and a lovely charge and offload by Marler, was finished by James Horwill’s crash-ball to the line. Five minutes later, Quins struck again, Mike Brown cutting against the grain for their third.
The home side suddenly looked comfortable now, always a dangerous sign, and never more so with Te’o and his mates around. A short, delayed ball by Lamb sent Willison through Quins’ midfield, and Te’o was quick and powerful enough to finish.
Lamb’s last act was to follow in the final quarter, and it was an ignominious one. Nick Evans had just extended Quins’ lead to 10 and, from the restart, Lamb’s pass on the Quins 22 was intercepted with ease by Marchant who showed great pace to beat Te’o, among others, to the line. The game was won, but there was still time for Marler to tread his fine line and for Visser to be denied one score, harshly, then awarded another, for some gloss at the end.
Vern Cotter, Scotland’s coach, will be just as pleased as Jones with what he saw from his powerful winger. He will only be hoping Premier Rugby agrees to release him and his fellow exiles in good time. A routine win for Quins, then, but routine is just what Jones and England want at this stage.
• This article was updated on 29 October 2016 to correct the name of James Chisholm
