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England fullback Mike Brown breaks try record against Bristol

Mike Brown

Mike Brown scored a record-equalling 89th try for Harlequins as they secured a bonus-point 36-26 victory over Bristol Bears to move back into third in the Gallagher Premiership.

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Brown, who has played for Quins since 2005, was one of five try scorers at the Stoop as the hosts claimed their fourth Premiership win in a row for the first time since 2014.

Joe Marchant scored his 11th try of the campaign, while young star Nathan Earle grabbed his seventh try in the league to cement the win late on.

Both sides entered the game in contrasting form, with Quins having picked up 20 points in their last six league matches while Bristol had won just two of their last nine.

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The Bears made the better start and dominated possession in the opening exchanges, resulting in Charles Piutau powering over the line after a kick from Callum Sheedy set-up Steven Luatua to penetrate the home defence.

However, Quins made an immediate comeback after Charlie Mulchrone took advantage of a loose ball and his kick in Bristol’s 22 gave the opportunity for Ross Chisholm to score.

In the topsy-turvy opening 20 minutes, Bristol responded well with them applying pressure in the scrum and Alapati Leiua was able to dive over in the nick of time to hand back the advantage to the visitors.

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The home side rebounded yet again and Marcus Smith saw a gap in the Bristol defence and, thanks to a dummy, he was able to weave through their defence and go over.

In an action-packed first half, a slick move of passes between Alex Dombrandt, Elia Elia and Chisholm on the left-hand flank allowed Brown to go over for his record-equalling try for Harlequins in the 32nd minute.

With less than five minutes to go before the half-time whistle, Marchant gave his side the bonus point after an unselfish pass from Ben Glynn saw him ghost through to give the home side a 14-point advantage at the break.

The Bears kept on attacking and Piutau’s weaving run allowed replacement Andy Uren to pass to Sheedy, who went through under the posts and give Bristol hope of a comeback.

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However, Bristol gave away a penalty with little over 10 minutes to go and James Lang sent the kick over from 40 metres for the home side.

Earle then took advantage of a stunning pass from Dave Lewis in the 77th minute to dot down before Bristol earned a consolation try through Leiua’s second try of the match.

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Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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