Once the referee’s whistle had been blown to end a game played under rapidly darkening skies, Quins came together in a huddle on The Reeves pitch and congratulated themselves on a very hard-fought win.

In truth however, this was a game that could (and perhaps should) have been much more comfortable.

Whilst Quins have been seemingly cemented to the mid-table positions in the league, Reigate have been hovering above the relegation zone. On paper, this should therefore have been a chance to return to winning ways. But as the old adage goes, the game isn’t played on paper. Povey’s last words at training were a warning not to take Reigate lightly.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the lack of consistency that we have endured this season. Saturday’s game brought about yet another centre partnership and back three (both 8 in 8 games) as well as the 7th back row selection.

Facing a team made up of older, gnarled forwards and young, nippy-looking backs, we knew that we needed to get those combinations gelling quickly if we wanted any chance at success.

And to be fair we did.

The scrum was giving away a lot of weight which meant that at best we could hold our own but otherwise, Quins seemed to be the team better able to stamp their gameplan onto the game.

Except for the penalties. So. Many. Penalties. And all avoidable as our old failing of offside came roaring back to life.

Those infringements constantly allowed Gate to relieve pressure and use their 10’s decent boot to march up the field. And there really was no need. When we stayed clean, we were all over them.

As it was, our defence managed to hold Gate out and we were able to score first; Sep crashing over on debut. A couple of Gate tries followed meaning a half-time score of 5-14.

In Povey’s absence, Harry’s team talk was clear. We had cleaned up our act over the last couple of games so go back to taking that extra step back from the line.

The result was a much-improved performance and another Sep try early in the second half. 10-14 and it’s game on.

A beautifully worked move gave Brewer space down the left wing to score 10m in from touch. Freddie slotted the kick and we were 17-14 up with 20+ minutes to play.

In an ideal world, we’d have seized this momentum and kicked on to see out the game. Instead, what followed was a heroic defensive effort.

As Quins’ scrum started to really struggle, Gate were able to milk penalty after penalty. Desperate to protect our slender lead, Quins also started to stray offside again.

With just over 15 to go, Gate had a kick to draw the scores level. With a strong wind to contend with, their 10 pushed the chance wide. Perhaps his only fluffed kick of the day.

But back they came and much of that last quarter of an hour was played in Quins’ 22. As the penalties mounted, a team warning was given. Sure enough, as Wags strayed offside, a yellow card was shown. Bless him, he’d only been on for 30 seconds.

Yet somehow, we kept them out. At every scrum within 10m of our line, the Reigate pack was baying for a pushover try. But time and again, their 9 would spin the ball out and our defence would scramble to hold them back.

As the clock ticked down (and the onset of Storm Bert meant that visibility became increasingly less) we got a couple of penalties of our own. We were therefore able to advance to midfield.

A call of last play at a Quins lineout meant a simple front-of-the-line take, a pass to Archie and the safety of touch.

Game won.