Easter's time as Quins tame Tigers

Nick Easter was backed for a return to England duty by Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea after leading the Premiership champions to a 22-9 win away to Leicester on Saturday.

Victory, in a repeat of last season's Premiership final where Quins beat Leicester 30-23 at Twickenham in May, left the Londoners on top of the table with four wins in as many matches.

It was also the first time Leicester had lost at home since Quins stormed the Welford Road fortress 27-18 in October.

Experienced No.8 Easter, who hasn't played for England since winning his 47th cap in the World Cup quarterfinal defeat by France in Auckland last year, led the way as Red Rose boss Stuart Lancaster watched from the stands.

Lancaster has been looking to blood a new generation of internationals but former Ireland fullback O'Shea insisted the 34-year-old Easter still had plenty to offer heading into this November's international programme.

"To me he is the best No 8 in England," said O'Shea. I don't care whether you are 19 or 34, if you are the best you are the best.

"For the last year he has been playing absolutely unbelievable rugby for us, and long may that continue. I thought he was magnificent tonight, taking the fight to them.

"I don't want to comment on other No 8s, all I know is what we see and what we have in Nick.

"He drives the group, he is incredibly ambitious and proud. He has not written off his international career.

"(New Zealand's) Brad Thorn was older than he was playing in and winning the last World Cup. If he (Easter) can keep himself in shape and plays the rugby he does, he will knock his way back in there."

Quins scored the only try of the match through wing Tom Williams while former All Blacks flyhalf Nick Evans kicked four penalties and a conversion, with England scrumhalf Danny Care adding a drop-goal.

All of Leicester's points came courtesy of three penalties from England flyhalf Toby Flood.

"We lacked composure when we had opportunities, which is disappointing," said Leicester coach Richard Cockerill.

Elsewhere London Irish ended a dreadful run of results with a 29-22 win at home to Bath.

The Exiles kicked off bottom of the table after three straight defeats, having conceded 40 or more points in all of those matches.

But tries from Tongan prop Halani Aulika, on his club debut, and centre Jonathan Joseph allied to determined defence saw Irish climb the table.

Exiles centre Steve Shingler kicked 19 points with five penalties and two conversions as Bath's Olly Barkley – who, is leaving for France after next week's home game against Sale – also kicked five penalties and converted a try from former rugby league wing Kyle Eastmond.

Delighted Exiles boss Brian Smith praised his side's resilience.

"I felt our team were very brave and gallant. We had to fight a lot of adversity," said former England backs coach Smith, who played Test rugby for both Australia and Ireland.

Elsewhere Gloucester defeated Wasps 29-22 with former England international James Simpson-Daniel scoring a superb 30 metre try for the victorious hosts after beating four defenders.

Northampton survived a huge scare when, having been 37-3 up, they saw Worcester rally before clinging on for a 37-31 victory.

Leicester Tigers 9-22 Harlequins

The scorers:

For Leicester Tigers:

Pens: Flood 3

For Harlequins:

Try: Williams

Con: Evans

Pens: Evans 4

DG: Care

Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Jordan Crane (captain), 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Steve Mafi, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Boris Stankovich.

Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Logovi'i Mulipola, 19 Rob Andrew, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 Patrick Phibbs, 22 George Ford, 23 Adam Thompstone.

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 Olly Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Ross Chisholm.

London Irish 29-22 Bath

The scorers:

For London Irish:

Tries: Joseph, Aulika

Cons: Shingler 2

Pens: Shingler 5

For Bath:

Try: Eastmond

Con: Barkley

Pens: Barkley 5

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo 13 Jonathan Joseph , 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Marland Yarde 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Ofisa Treviranus 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher (captain), 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Bryn Evans , 3 Halani Aulika , 2 Scott Lawson , 1 Max Lahiff.

Replacements:16 David Paice , 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa , 18 Alan Cotter, 19 George Skivington, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Anthony Watson, 22 Shane Geraghty , 23 Jack Moates

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Nathan Catt.

Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Paul James, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Stephen Donald, 23 Jack Cuthbert.

Northampton Saints 37-31 Worcestor Warriors

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:

Tries: Burrell 2, Artemyev, Lawes, Haywood

Cons: Myler 3

Pens: Myler 2

For Worcestor Warriors:

Tries: Arr, Matavesi, Drauniniu, Hayes

Cons: Goode 4

Pen: Goode

Northampton: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.

Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Dom Waldouck.

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Joe Carlisle, 11 David Lemi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Shaun Perry, 8 Semisi Taulava, 7 Sam Betty, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield (captain), 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 James Currie, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Josh Drauniniu.

Gloucester 29-22 London Wasps

The scorers:

For Gloucester:

Tries: Simpson-Daniel, Kalamafoni

Cons: Burns 2

Pens: Burns 5

For London Wasps:

Try: Daly

Con: Jones

Pens: Jones 4, Robinson

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Jonny May, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Ben Morgan. 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Jim Hamilton (captain), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.

Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Will James, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Mike Tindall, 23 Martyn Thomas.

London Wasps: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Andrea Masi, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 James Haskell, 5 Marco Wentzel (captain), 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Zak Taulafo, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Tim Payne.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 James Cannon, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Nick Robinson, 23 Jack Wallace.