Quins run Saints ragged
The London club wasted no time in getting into the game and first-half scores for Dave Ward, Charlie Walker, Tim Visser and Care secured the bonus point before the break.
After half-time Northampton offered resistance with tries for Rob Horne, Nic Groom and Mikey Haywood, but Care and Visser both completed their doubles and Mat Luamanu also crossed to seal the points in front of 77,825 spectators.
Harlequins settled right from the off and their early dominance told on 11 minutes when Ward burst through midfield and stunningly rounded Harry Mallinder to strike.
Minutes later, Saints' Jamie Gibson prevented another try with a superb tackle in the corner, but Harlequins weren't to be denied as Marcus Smith notched a penalty and then created a break which Walker finished.
With 22 minutes on the clock the south-west London side had reached 24 points – with Smith again finding space and torpedoing a pass out to Visser for an easy run-in.
John Kingston's men secured the bonus point just after the half-hour when Care pounced from five yards out, making the score 31-0 at half-time.
Immediately after the break it was five for Harlequins, with Mike Brown first penetrating deep into Saints territory and Smith then looping a huge pass out wide for Visser to finish.
Northampton finally got on the board when Horne touched down from close range, and Groom repeated the trick on 54 minutes to bring it back to 36-14.
But the London club roared back again minutes later with Care finishing off a move after Smith's tactical kick, and Luamanu joined the party on 69 minutes, burrowing over from two yards out and leaving Haywood's late effort a mere consolation.
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Ward, Walker, Visser 2, Care 2, Luamanu
Cons: Smith 6
Pen: Smith
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Horne, Groom, Haywood
Cons: Myler 3
Yellow card: James Chisholm (Harlequins, 46 )
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Alofa Alofa, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Ben Glynn, 4 George Merrick, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward (captain), 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 James Lang, 23 Henry Cheeseman.
Northampton: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Campese Ma'afu.
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 George North.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Paul Dix & Nigel Carrick
TMO: Graham Hughes
Source: @premrugby
