Quins boss reveals he almost didn’t pick star man in thrashing of Stormers
Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson admits he almost scuppered Alex Dombrandt’s man-of-the-match display in their 53-16 win over the Stormers in the Investec Champions Cup.
England No8 Dombrandt ran in three of Quins’ eight tries at the Stoop but Wilson revealed afterwards that he considered leaving him out of the team over fitness concerns.
“I actually gave Alex the option of taking the week off because he had sore ribs,” he said. “But he said to me that he desperately wanted to play. So he did that with a man-of-the-match performance.
“It was good for him because he’s been playing really well in a back row where we have some serious competition.”
Dombrandt said: “I’ve been managing an oblique problem, but I managed to get through the week and I felt all right out there. I’ll have an ice bath and be ready for next week.”
Wing Cadan Murley also grabbed three tries as Harlequins took full advantage of facing a Stormers side missing seven Springboks to notch their first win in Pool 4.
Dombrandt had already pounced for a hat-trick when he sent Murley over for his third, although there was a suspicion the Quins captain could have finished a sweeping counter-attack himself.
“I wouldn’t have heard the end of it from Cadan if I hadn’t passed to him, but we can’t have a No8 scoring more than a wing so I thought I’d even it up a bit,” he added.
The eight-try demolition completed a successful week for Quins, who are also celebrating the decision of their England fly-half Marcus Smith to sign a contract extension until 2028.
“It’s brilliant news. It shows the club have been good for Marcus and Marcus has been good for the club,” Wilson said.
“He’s not going to be short of an offer, so the fact he’s committed here tells you a lot. There are always twists and turns in any deal, but in the end it was straightforward enough.
“We’re over the moon and I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s an amazing bloke as well as an amazing player, and he’s going to be a Harlequin for a lot longer, which is good news.”
South African sides ‘have to be better’ in Investec Champions Cup, says Stormers boss
Manie Libbok, Damian Willemse and Frans Malherbe were among the Springboks missing for the Stormers, but head coach John Dobson still viewed it as a sub-standard display.
“This was a poor performance by us,” Dobson said. “We pride ourselves on our defence, but Harlequins undid us here. A very disappointing performance.”
Dobson admitted that South African teams were letting the side down by fielding under-strength line-ups but insisted they must do all they can to keep a place in the Champions Cup.
“As South Africans we have to be better. We are not disrespecting [the tournament], but we need to get ourselves into a better position,” he said.
“I don’t know how we solve it. It’s like being invited to someone’s birthday party then complaining about the chips. We are so grateful to be here.
“We have to be part of this tournament because it’s such a high level and it’s such a great tournament. If we’re not careful, were we not to be part of the Champions Cup, and the URC morphed into an Anglo League and we went back to the Currie Cup of the 1980s where we were playing Griqualand West and Free State in dusty Kimberley, that would be disastrous for South African rugby.
“This competition is probably what has helped us so much in World Cups. Every breakdown is a competition. Every scrum is a 20-second contest. Every line-out or maul is a contest.
“That has been a massive boost for South African rugby, and we’ve got to make sure we can stay here, but evenings like this evening don’t help.”
Includes reporting by PA.