Match Centre: Harlequins 35-29 Northampton Saints

Harlequins 35-29 Northampton Saints, Twickenham Stoop

Harlequins survived a second half fightback from Northampton Saints as they sealed a 35-29 win in the fourth round of the Gallagher Premiership at Twickehnam Stoop on Sunday.

This is second win for Harlequins in four games as they climb to the fifth position in the table while Northampton are at eighth position after losing their third match.

Harlequins opened their account in just the third minute as Jack Musk dived in the corner at the back of a rolling maul and three minutes later Joe Marchant offloaded to Lennox Anyanwu for their second try. Marcus Smith kicked both the conversions as they raced to a 14-0 lead.

The first response from Northampton came in the 20th minute as Jack Kenningham was penalised for not rolling away and Dan Biggar kicked a three-pointer but the Quins extended their lead further as Luke Northmore burst over the line in the 24th minute and Smith was once again spot on with the conversion to make it 21-3.

With the break approaching, skipper Lewis Ludlam scrambled over the whitewash under the posts and Biggar's conversion meant the gap came down to 11 points at the end of the opening half.

The Saints started the second half with a setback as Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was sin-binned for a high tackle and Musk completed his second with another rumbling maul as they secured a bonus point. As Salakaia-Loto returned from his sin-bin period, Tommy Freeman dotted down in the corner and Biggar missed out on the conversion making it 28-15.

Ludlam then saw a try chalked off by the TMO and Quins were up the other end and scoring in the corner after a quickly-taken penalty from Care sent Cadan Murley down the left wing, with the wing finishing spectacularly in the corner.

The home side extended their tally to 35 points as Tom James and Furbank combined with eventually the latter going over the line and with six minutes left in the match ames himself darted over – Biggar’s conversion made it a six-point game. Even though the visitors were desperate to cross the line, Harlequins ensured they held their lead to complete a tight win.

Team line up:

Harlequins: Marler (c), Musk, Louw, Lamb, Herbst, Kenningham, Evans, White, Care, Smith, Murley, Anyanwu, Northmore, Marchant, Green.

Reserves: Riley, Garcia Botta, Kerrod, Hammond, Jurevicius, Gjaltema, Allan, David.

Northampton Saints: Furbank, Freeman, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Collins, Biggar, Mitchell, Iyogun, Matavesi, Petch, Salakaia-Loto, Coles, Scott-Young, Ludlam (c), Augustus.

Reserves: Haywood, Heffernan, Hill, Moon, Graham, James, Proctor, Sleightholme.