‘The Premiership has gone mental’

Published 30/03/2024 at 20:45 GMT

After falling to a heavy defeat last weekend, Harlequins stormed to a six-try lead over Bath on Saturday before the visitors responded with a five-try haul in a thrilling Gallagher Premiership encounter. Lawrence Dallaglio was left fascinated with Harlequins’ performance in the first half, which he felt was the total opposite from the week prior. “The Premiership has gone mental. It really has.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 30: Harlequins’ Marcus Smith celebrates scoring his sides second try during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Harlequins and Bath Rugby at The Stoop on March 30, 2024 in London, England.(Photo by Bob Bradford – CameraSp

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But the second half was the polar opposite, as Bath closed the gap with five consecutive tries to mount a tremendous comeback effort, which Harlequins managed to fend off to seal five points.

Reflecting on the stark difference between Harlequins’ recent performances, Dallaglio was left stunned after the match.

“What a game and what a weekend,” Dallaglio said on TNT Sports following the full-time at Twickenham Stoop. “In fact, what a couple of weekends of Premiership Rugby.

“The Premiership has gone mental. It really has. Even Bristol [Bears] are now in the mix again with a big win today.

“Credit to Harlequins. Brian [O’Driscoll] mentioned before, that sometimes the game is played upstairs [mentally] and Quins last week, couldn’t win a raffle. They couldn’t do anything, they couldn’t win any collisions and they got absolutely annihilated by Saracens.

“And then they come back and produce, certainly a first-half performance, that was almost completely the opposite. It’s just fascinating. You get it right up top [mentally], it makes such a difference.”

Johann van Graan’s side are currently second in the Premiership standings with Harlequins occupying the final play-off spot in fourth.

Exeter Chiefs and Bristol are just two points adrift of Harlequins, while Leicester Tigers are three points off the play-off spots in seventh place.

Bath’s inspired efforts on Saturday saw them pick up two losing bonus points, which O’Driscoll feels could prove to be crucial in the race for the play-offs at the end of the season.

“That second-half performance from Bath was very Harlequins-esque,” the former Ireland captain told TNT Sports.

“We’ve seen that over the last few years where the game’s been done and dusted, a foregone conclusion. Oh no, hang on a minute. All of a sudden they’ve got a huge amount of points in them and Bath just kept coming and kept coming.

“It’s going to come down to it. We’ve got more and more teams emerging to the top of the table. If Sale [Sharks] can get a victory, there is another team right in the mix.

“Who knows? What an amazing end of the season we’ve got.”

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