Sale 37-31 Harlequins: Raffi Quirke's 'Hollywood brilliance' keeps hosts in touch with Premiership play-offs as visitors fall short of heroic comeback

England scrum-half Raffi Quirke and his evolving brand of ‘Hollywood brilliance’ helped Sale fend off a dangerous Harlequins fightback to stay in the hunt for a place in the Premiership play-offs.

The 22-year-old has endured two years of injury turmoil, disrupting his early-career momentum, but he has already proved his credentials as a match-winner at Test level and did the same for his club on Sunday. Having led 25-10 just after half-time in a win-or-bust game, the Sharks had seen their lead reduced to a point when Quirke burst off the bench and made his mark.

In 2021, he was in the right place at the right time to score a match-winning try against South Africa at Twickenham and this time, he was well-placed to capitalise on a telling intervention by fellow replacement Tom O’Flaherty. 

The wing charged down Andre Esterhuizen’s attempted clearance from the re-start – after Oscar Beard’s try had made it 25-24 – and Quirke chased through to touch down, before being mobbed.

He continued to make his presence felt on his 50th appearance for Sale, despite box kicks flying short and long in the wind – reclaiming one himself and seeing O’Flaherty seize another, in the build-up to Arron Reed’s try 16 minutes from time, which ultimately proved decisive. 

Quirke brought trademark energy to proceedings as he faced the man who he will seek to replace long-term in the England squad – Quins veteran Danny Care.

After seeing his side hold on to win and climb to sixth in the fine-margins Premiership table, Alex Sanderson, the victorious director of rugby, said: ‘Raffi looked sharp when he came on – catching his own box kicks! This season, he’s probably not forcing things. 

'He wants to be an all-round, complete scrum-half and not just about the Hollywood brilliance. He’s on better form mentally than I’ve witnessed since I’ve been here. He’s banging down the door (for a starting place).’

Sale had surged 15-0 ahead in as many minutes at the start of this disjointed contest, with tries by Ben Curry and Sam Dugdale. 

Those influential flankers had a key role in this crucial win, not least in the way they stopped the visitors’ rampaging England blindside Chandler Cunningham-South from blasting over the gainline, as he did at will in Bordeaux eight days earlier. ‘He was Shark bait this week,’ said Sanderson. ‘We saw the momentum he gave them last week.’

This being Quins, they did not know when they were beaten and came back strongly in the second half, with enough backs-to-the-wall conviction to claim two precious bonus points and consolidate fifth place. 

‘We’ve been saying all season that it is going to come down to bonus points, so to get two of them away from home is great,’ said head coach Danny Wilson. ‘But the frustration is that we scored 31 points away from home and still lost.’

Next Sunday, Sale will be on Tyneside to face Newcastle, who endured a brutal 85-point humiliation at Bristol on Sunday. Asked about his side’s play-off prospects, Sanderson added: ‘We’ve got to win all our games. If we keep racking up five points, we will be alright.’