- Raffi Quirke starred as Sale were pushed all the way by a struggling Harlequins side.
- The hosts initially built a quick lead before finding themselves tied on Sunday.
- Victory keeps Sale in the fight for Premiership play-off places
England scrum-half Raffi Quirke and his growing brand of ‘Hollywood brilliance’ helped Sale fend off a dangerous Harlequins fightback to stay in the hunt for a Premiership play-off place.
The 22-year-old has endured two years of injury turmoil, disrupting the early momentum of his career, but has already proven his match-winning credentials at Test level and did the same for his club on Sunday. Having led 25-10 just after half-time in a win-or-lose game, the Sharks saw their lead reduced to one point as Quirke came off the bench and made his mark.
In 2021, he was in the right place at the right time to score a winning try against South Africa at Twickenham and this time, he was well positioned to capitalize on a telling intervention from fellow replacement Tom O’Flaherty.
The wing charged Andre Esterhuizen’s attempted clearance from the restart (after Oscar Beard’s attempt made the score 25-24) and Quirke chased him down to land, before being harassed.
He continued to make his presence felt in his 50th appearance for Sale, despite box kicks flying short and long in the wind: he recovered one and saw O’Flaherty grab another, in the build-up to Arron Reed’s try to 16 minutes from the end. which ultimately proved decisive.
England scrum-half Raffi Quirke starred in Sale’s vital Premiership victory over Harlequins
Quirke chased down a Harlequins restart attempt to score past Sale at the death for the win.
Quirke brought his trademark energy to proceedings as he took on the man he will look to replace long-term in the England squad – Quins veteran Danny Care.
After watching his team hold on for victory and move up to sixth in the Premiership table, Alex Sanderson, the victorious director of rugby, said: ‘Raffi looked smart when he came on, catching his own shots into the box! This season he’s probably not forcing things.
‘He wants to be a complete, well-rounded scrum-half and not just focus on Hollywood brilliance. He’s in better mental shape than I’ve seen since I’ve been here. He’s banging on the door (to get a starting point).’
Sale had taken a 15-0 lead in as many minutes at the start of this disjointed contest, with tries from Ben Curry and Sam Dugdale.
Sale had led 15-0 when Sam Dugdale scored the hosts’ second try of the game.
Louis Lynagh gave Harlequins their first attempt to reduce the deficit after Sale’s impressive start
Those influential flankers played a key role in this crucial victory, not least in the way they prevented the visitors’ blind full-back, Chandler Cunningham-South, from crossing the gain line, as he did at will in Bordeaux eight days earlier. “He was shark bait this week,” Sanderson said. “We saw the boost it gave them last week.”
This being Quins, they didn’t know when they had been beaten and came back strongly in the second half, with enough conviction to claim two valuable bonus points and consolidate fifth place.
“We’ve been saying all season that it’s going to come down to bonus points, so to get two of them on the road is fantastic,” head coach Danny Wilson said. “But the frustration is that we scored 31 points away from home and still lost.”
Next Sunday, Sale will be on Tyneside to face Newcastle, who suffered a brutal 85-point humiliation at Bristol on Sunday. When asked about his team’s prospects in the play-offs, Sanderson added: “We have to win all our games. If we keep getting five points, we’ll be fine.”