Bell powers London Irish to 39-29 bonus point win over Harlequins

by The TRU Team Sunday 3 September 2017

London Irish's Tommy Bell kicks a conversion during the Aviva Premiership match at Twickenham Stadium, London.

©PA

London Irish 39-29 Harlequins, Twickenham Stadium
Scorecard

London Irish managed to resist late fight from Harlequins as they started the 2017/18 season of Aviva Premiership with a 39-29 bonus point victory over Harlequins at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Bell got London Irish off the mark with back to back penalties in the first 10 minutes following which Marcus Smith got Harlequins off the mark with a three pointer in the 15th minute.

Topsy Ojo stepped up the accelerator with a 23rd minute try and seven minutes later Bell also went past the line to make it 18-3 in favour of the Exiles. Harlequins once again bounced back, this time a cross over from Joe Marchant and the first half ended 21-10 in favour of London Irish.

The Quins suffered a major setback when Demetri Catrakilis was sin-binned in the 51st minute which was capitalised by Bell and Ofisa Treviranus as they scored a penalty and a try respectively. By the end of the third quarter, London Irish had a 29-10 lead.

Tries from Marland Yarde and Danny Care in the 63rd and 72nd minutes respectively reduced the gap to seven points but once Harlequins were reduced to 14 men this time, Mike Brown sin-binned in the 74th minute.

Despite, having one man Charlie Walker strolled past the post for Quins in the 77th minute as they brought down the trail to three points but Brendan McKibbin took the game away from them with the decisive try a minute later as London Irish completed a 39-29 victory.