George Robson sees red to deepen Harlequins' state of siege

Wasps 26-15 Harlequins
Joe Simpson
Wasps' scrum half, Joe Simpson, was head-butted after barely a minute of the game at Twickenham. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

As Joe Simpson stood with blood oozing from his nose and a dozen tape recorders shoved in his face, he swooned slightly and asked if he might sit down. He was still feeling groggy from the head-butt he had received from George Robson barely 40 seconds into the match in which he had just starred.

It was a devastating way to make the point that Robson deserved the red card that left Harlequins facing 79 minutes with 14 men. They eventually finished with 13, after Jordan Turner-Hall saw yellow, but that was with about 40 seconds left, so it was rather less damaging. By then Quins were out on their feet, trying to chase a bonus point.

They might have been forgiven for going into the match with the view that things could not get any worse for them, after this summer's Bloodgate affair. How wrong they were.

"It's a bit of a blur, to be honest," Simpson said. "There was a small coming-together. I thought it was all over. And then I had a sore nose. It's all I can remember, really. I'm pretty sure he head-butted me but the video will show everyone what they want to see. It's not really in the spirit of rugby, although people do get worked up and things like that do happen. I'll leave everything else to the panel."

Simpson will have to undergo scans to determine whether his headache and sickness were signs of anything serious; Robson will be given a serious ban, presumably. Whether he will be seen on a rugby field before Tom Williams, the wing banned for four months for his part in the fake blood scandal, is a moot point. And more pain for Harlequins with the loss of another player but, more worryingly, the heaping of further opprobrium on their good name.

John Kingston, Quins' coach, must be yearning for the days when he worked silently behind the scenes and Dean Richards held centre stage. He faced the media and flat-batted the issue.

"I'm going to do an Arsène Wenger," he said, "and not make a comment on whether it was the right decision or not, having only watched it live."

Kingston said Robson had apologised to him, but would go no further. The siege mentality is strong with this lot. As was borne out on the field. For half an hour Quins were all over their opponents, scoring two brilliant tries as Wasps laboured hard to make their extra man tell.

Harlequins' seven-man scrum had them in all sorts of trouble, but Tom Varndell scored two tries in the first half to earn Wasps a 16-15 lead at the break. It took a penalty try from a rolling maul with five minutes to go to make the game safe.

It was hardly convincing but Danny Cipriani enjoyed the extra space and if Simpson can run as fast as he did with concussion, God help the rest when he plays with a clear head. Harlequins should be a force when they keep 15 men on the field. They feel hard done by at the moment, but they need to keep that in check for longer than 40 seconds.

London Wasps Van Gisbergen; Varndell, Jacobs, Kefu, Lemi; Cipriani, Simpson (Fury 78); Payne, Webber, Bocca (Broster ht), Skivington, Birkett, Hart (Ellis 77), Betsen (capt), Ward-Smith.

Tries Varndell 2 Cons Van Gisbergen Pens Van Gisbergen 3.

Harlequins Monye; Strettle, Tiesi, Turner-Hall, Camacho (Lowe 77); Jones, Botha (Fuga 52), Lambert, Percival (J Evans 52), Robson, Robshaw (Guest 69), Skinner (capt), Easter.

Tries Monye, Camacho Cons N Evans Pens N Evans.

Sin-bin Turner-Hall Sent off Robson.

Referee Dean Richards. Attendance 67,684.

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