Dombrand praises Quins team-mate Smith after England triumph

Alex Dombrandt celebrated scoring his first try for England in the weekend Six Nations triumph over Wales – and had praise for fellow Harlequins star Marcus Smith for the part he played.

It was case of Quins 23 Wales 19 on Saturday as Dombrandt’s try early in the second half, allied to the trusty kicking of Smith, made up all of England’s points.

Smith landed six penalties and missed just one effort on goal and his final two steadied the ships after a Wales fightback from 17-0 down.

The only try for the home side in a mostly scrappy encounter at Twickenham came when the No8 powered over after a loose throw to the back of the line-out from Ryan Elias for the visitors gifted him a close-range run to the tryline.

It was to prove crucial.

“The try was a bit of a weird one,” said Dombrandt, who earned his seventh cap.

“I just saw the ball come over the lineout and just caught it and tried to get over the line. Luckily, I managed to reach out and just get it on the line. Obviously to get my first England try is a special moment.

“Every game is special when you get to put on this shirt – whether it’s your first cap or your fifth, sixth or seventh – so to have family and friends in the crowd makes it a special moment.”

Even more special when you are the key scorer alongside your club team-mate.

“He keeps delivering in, week in week out and it’s no surprise really,” Dombrandt said of Smith. “He puts the hard work in and the sky’s the limit for him.

“He really puts his head down and works hard so deserves everything good that comes to him.”

The pair are now becoming firmly involved in the England set-up. Smith, 23, was earning his eighth cap and now has 111 points to his name for England.

Neither quite produced the sort of scintillating turn they often manage at the Stoop, but then Test rugby is more exacting.

But they are delivering with vital contributions and the 24-year-old Dombrandt was keen to stress how happy he is that his country got over the line in what was ultimately a very tight contest.

“Overall, we’re just delighted to get the win,” he said. “We spoke about it in the week about it being a quarter-final in terms of the Six Nations tournament, so the overriding feeling is being really pleased with the win.

“It’s a semi-final and final to come [against Ireland and France] when you look at it so we’ll have a few days off now and then look ahead to the Ireland game and be really excited for it.

“At international level, when you are dominant, it’s really key to come away with points and we’ll have a look at it [the Wales fightback].

“We’d probably like to have dealt with it a bit better but we’ll look at things we can improve. But to come away with the win was the most important thing today.”