Harlequins left it late to snatch victory from Northampton’s grasp with Cassius Cleaves’ second try sealing a 22-19 Gallagher Premiership victory at The Stoop.
A ruthless final 10 minutes saw Jack Walker, Oscar Beard and Sam Riley all cross for Quins to cruise to victory, ending a three-game winless run in the Premiership.
James Chisholm’s converted try handed Quins an early lead and the game evolved into a tight contest, which saw Adam Radwan level seven minutes before the break but Marcus Smith crossed to restore his side’s advantage.
Round six of the Gallagher Premiership promises to deliver another thrilling weekend of action, with teams looking to solidify their positions ahead of a break before the Test rugby returns in November.
Some gifted players had less than the 592 minutes of action in the 2023-24 season that a certain Antoine Dupont had in 2015-16
Former Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg will take his first steps back into rugby when he reports for pre-season training with Montpellier next Wednesday after the club confirmed him as a medical joker.
Harlequins have announced that stalwart Ross Chisholm is to retire and experienced lock Charlie Matthews will leave the club at the end of the season.
Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith will challenge each other head-on this Saturday for their Gallagher Premiership clubs following a Guinness Six Nations campaign in which their 10/12 axis was abandoned.
Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson glowingly endorsed Marcus Smith amid doubts about his involvement with England.