There may be a grassroots rebellion soon descending on Twickenham, torches and pitchforks in tow, but here was some festive fun before the bonfire begins. Ultimately, it ended honours even – thanks to Dan Cole’s last-gasp try and Handré Pollard’s conversion via a post – and with a slight sense of anticlimax for the sellout crowd. There can be no mistaking they got their money’s worth, however, a nail-biting encounter after a weekend of whitewashes.
This was the third time Leicester were the opponents for this annual festive fixture and remarkably, the two previous clashes, in 2008 and 2019, also ended in draws. All the more astonishing is that it was Cole who scored the try to force the draw. It was no less than Leicester deserved, with Michael Cheika unapologetic his side chose to kick the ball out in the dying seconds rather than push for victory.
It was a contest that fizzed along throughout, engrossing from first minute to last, even if it did not quite live up to the pre-match pyrotechnics that Harlequins do so well in this festive fixture. Once more they attracted a bumper crowd, bringing the fireworks to Twickenham for all the right reasons, some light relief from the internecine fighting within the Rugby Football Union, and setting the stage for Marcus Smith to dazzle. He did so in patches but was matched by Pollard and, truth be told, neither side – both coming off the back of disappointing defeats – can argue with a draw.
“Overall we looked more like us,” said Harlequins’ head coach, Danny Wilson. “I don’t think we were the finished article but I came off the field thinking, that’s Harlequins.”
Leicester, for their part, brought plenty of physicality – as they tend to do under Cheika – and may wonder quite how they went into the half-time interval behind. They began the better of the sides, Pollard pulling the strings with some shrewd kicking keeping Harlequins pinned in their own half. Quins, meanwhile, were sloppy for large spells of the opening half, throwing wayward lineouts, knocking on and failing to find much rhythm with Danny Care, maintaining his 100% appearance record in all 16 of these fixtures, particularly out of sorts.
They retain an unerring ability to strike with ruthless precision, however, and after Pollard had kicked Leicester into a 3-0 lead, Quins responded with Smith dancing through Mike Brown and Julián Montoya before offloading to Jack Walker for the opening try. It was the sort of moment of magic that he produced on a regular basis for England here in November but Leicester responded in fine fashion, calmly going through the phases before Pollard put Ollie Hassell-Collins in under the posts.
Harlequins’ inaccuracy continued while Leicester kept their foot on the pedal. Freddie Steward, auditioning for the England No 15 jersey with George Furbank nursing a broken arm, began a counterattack inside his own half and soon Solomone Kata was over in the left-hand corner. The watching Steve Borthwick will have been impressed; less so with how Steward was beaten for pace by Cadan Murley, who finished off a stunning second try for Harlequins after Jack Kenningham made the initial break near his own line.
Another Pollard penalty edged the Tigers further ahead but Kata was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Oscar Beard – in truth it could easily have been red – and soon after Luke Northmore crashed over from close range before Smith’s conversion gave Harlequins the lead.
A rare shot at goal by Smith – albeit from straight in front of the posts – extended that lead but Steward got the try his performance deserved to nose Leicester back ahead. Another Smith penalty in front of the posts levelled the scores and suddenly things were opening up.
Harlequins introduced Chandler Cunningham-South from the bench and his impact was immediate, bashing a hole in the Leicester defence before Murley was over for his second – awarded despite a potential forward pass by Alex Dombrandt in the buildup. “The pass went two metres forward,” said Cheika. “I felt there were a few on the day, they got a few but they didn’t get a few.”
Just as Harlequins looked well set to see the match out, however, up popped Cole to burrow over from close range. Pollard’s conversion was far from straightforward but the Springboks No 10 relishes moments like these, even if he needed the help of the right-hand post to secure the draw.
