Saints 13 - Quins 16

No bones about it, this was a terrible match. I partly blame Gloucester, missing a game may have taken some of the edge off the Saints players. maybe they were able to enjoy Christmas a bit too much. They certainly looked rusty.

The Saints defence was good. In reality the Quins never really looked like crossing the line. Their try was more a fluke from a ricochet off Danny Cares backside. But it came at a crucial time. The Saints had, almost unforgivably, failed to convert a two man advantage into points. The Quins came back to strength and had their tails up. It was enough for them.

Why do I say "almost unforgivably". Well the best play from the Quins came from the ten minutes that they were down to 13 men. They showed a level of tactical nowse that put the Saints to shame. They kept the ball almost the entire ten minutes. When they didn't have the ball they wound up the Saints team so much that we were giving away penalties and free kicks.

And while the Saints defence generally remained good, our attacking game was falling apart. Handling error after handling error saw opportunity after opportunity squandered.

This match should have been sown up at 50 minutes. Instead a home defeat. Painful, and not how I wanted to start the year.

Scorers:
Saints - Tries: Penalty; Cons: Smyler; Pens: Smyler, TinTin
Quins - Tries: Care; Cons: Evans; Pens: Evans (3)