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Auteur d'un sans faute absolu depuis le début de l'European Rugby Challenge Cup (trois victoires bonifiées en trois rencontres)
It has been a big week for Challenge Cup table-toppers Harlequins with George Lowe, Jack Clifford and Marland Yarde all signing new contracts and Super Rugby winner Beau Robinson announcing he will be joining the club as back row cover.
The icing on the cake would be for the 24-year-old lock Charlie Matthews to make his 100th appearance for the club in a fourth consecutive bonus point win at home to Calvisano to keep the Aviva Premiership side way out in front in Pool 3.
The Quins ran in eight tries in their 50-10 victory at the Peroni Stadium last weekend and will be looking for another five points when they host the Italian qualifiers at the Twickenham Stoop.
Quins take on the Italian outfit for the second consecutive weekend after Luke Wallace ran in two of their eight tries during a 50-10 romp at the Peroni Stadium last Saturday.
“We were very pleased with how we played against Calvisano and now we're looking forward to the rematch this weekend and getting a similar result. It can be tough to get in the right mindset, so we don't think about the opposition – we focus on ourselves and what we want to do as a team,” said Matthews.
“It's not a training run, but it's a good opportunity for us to put into practice what we've been working on. We want to produce the same intensity and hunger as we do against the top teams and we're keen to keep our momentum going.
“I’m obviously immensely proud to reach 100 games for the club, especially being so young. It has come round so quickly – it's only four years and my debut certainly doesn't feel that long ago.”
Match Facts
- This will be just the second meeting between the teams with Harlequins recording a 50-10 victory in the last round.
- Harlequins have won all three matches they’ve played against teams from Italy in the Challenge Cup, outscoring them 153-43 in the process.
- Harlequins have won 14 of their last 17 matches in the Challenge Cup, including each of their last three.
- Rugby Calvisano have never won an away fixture in the Challenge Cup, this will be their 14th attempt at rectifying that record.
Comme on pouvait s'y attendre
Wales and British & Irish Lions centre Jamie Roberts enjoyed a dream Harlequins debut as his new side racked up nine tries to beat Rugby Calvisano 59-7 at the Twickenham Stoop.
The new Cambridge Blue crashed over for one of seven second-half tries after the Quins were made to fight hard for a 14-7 half-time lead. The Twickenham Stoop side have all-but booked their place in the quarter-finals with 20 points in Pool 3 from four rounds of Challenge Cup action.
When flying wing Marland Yarde kicked-off the scoring at the Stoop, it looked like it was going to be another long afternoon for Calvisano. The hosts battered the try-line from the off, and South African playmaker Tim Swiel finally managed to find pace-man Yarde with an offload for a try at the corner.
But Quins were not to have it all their own way this week. The Italian side held-firm and landed a blow of their own after 29 minutes. Calvisano’s Nicola Belardo was yellow carded for persistent offending, but Marco Susio intercepted from the resulting play and raced home for a seven point score.
Pool 3’s bottom side looked to have held-on until half-time, but prop Sinkler put Quins back on the front-foot at half-time. The promising front-rower burst through the middle to score, with Botica adding the conversion for a 14-7 half-time lead.
The Italian resistance was finally broken after the break. Jack Clifford raced on to an inside ball to kick-off the second-half scoring spree after 44 minutes. Ross Chisholm was next go over after some more Swiel magic, before the most popular score of all. Debutant Roberts may have limped out of the Varsity match last week, but he made an instant impact at the Stoop. Dave Ward gave the scoring pass to the Wales centre, who crashed over under the posts.
Charlie Walker was the next man to go over in the second-half onslaught, before Ben Botica and Swiel scored to secure another mammoth victory. And Karl Dickson got in on the act in the final five minutes to score a fourth bonus-point victory in as many games.
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