Welsh take another hammering

 

The table read won two, lost two after a topsy-turvy start to the season for Conor O'Shea's men but this result was to be emphatic.

 

Mike Brown and Danny Care crossed inside the first quarter of an hour as Quins scored 17 points without reply before half time.

 

And the Exiles, who slump to their fifth successive Premiership Rugby defeat, were made to suffer further as Yarde and Matt Hopper added their own names to the scoresheet.

 

With the bonus point tied up, more Quins points were piled on through a penalty try, Karl Dickson and Yarde again.

 

There was a real urgency to Harlequins' play in the opening minutes of their clash against an Exiles side seeking to recover from their own faltering start to the season.

 

Meanwhile, in a battle of two kickers it was Luther Burrell's first-half try that proved the difference as Northampton Saints edged a nip-and-tuck contest 19-12 at the Madejski Stadium.

 

London Irish centre Shane Geraghty kicked four second-half penalties to haul Irish back into the contest after Burrell's third try of the Premiership Rugby season on the stroke of half-time.

 

However, Geraghty's efforts were not enough as Stephen Myler produced a typically-composed display from the tee to land four penalties of his own.

 

The victory ensures Northampton have still been beaten just once since April – against Wasps in round two – while the Exiles have now lost four of their last six home games.

 

Finally, a superb first half performance laid the foundation for Gloucester's 33-16 Premiership victory over Leicester at Kingsholm on Saturday.

 

The Cherry and Whites dominated the opening period and deservedly went into the interval 30-9 ahead through Nick Wood, Charlie Sharples and Jonny May tries.

 

Owen Williams kicked three penalties for the Tigers in the opening period and they searched for a response in the second half, but Greig Laidlaw's penalty increased the hosts' advantage.

 

 

 

 

Tries: Yarde 2, Brown, Care, Hopper, Dickson, penalty try

Cons: Evans 7

Pen: Evans

 

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Luke Wallace, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler (captain)

Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Joe Trayfoot,, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague

 

London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Nick Scott, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Ollie Stedman, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Peter Browne 5 James Down, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Ricky Reeves.

Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Pablo Henn, 18 Eddie Aholelei, 19 Ben Pienaar, 20 Chris Hala'ufia, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Tristan Roberts, 23 Rhys Crane.

 

Referee: Dean Richards

 

 

 

Pens: Geraghty 4

 

Try: Burrell

Con: Myler

Pen: Myler 4

 

London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 James Short, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Kieran Low, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court

Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19, Dan Leo, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Eamonn Sheridan, 23 Topsy Ojo

 

Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Jon Fisher, 6 Calum Clark, 5 James Craig, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Tom Collins

 

Referee: Matthew Carley

 

 

Tries: Wood, Sharples, May

Cons: Laidlaw 3

Pen: Laidlaw 4

 

Try: Mele

Con: Williams

Pens: Williams 3

 

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Purdy, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Nick Wood.

Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Tom Isaacs.

 

Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Vereniki Goneva, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 David Mele, 22 Sam Harrison, 23 Matt Smith.

 

Referee: Andrew Small