Beaten to nil last weekend in embarrassing fashion, Harlequins, it should come as no real surprise, ran in tries from all quarters on Saturday. They will be annoyed that they failed to do the nilling here, but two late scores by Newcastle spoiled their afternoon somewhat, even if the Red Bulls, as they now call themselves, were little more than party to an exhibition by that stage.
Nothing if not inconsistent, Quins were as deadly this week as they were listless last. They scored eight tries in all, including a brace for Tyrone Green on his 100th appearance. The bonus point was secured within half an hour, the fifth try on the stroke of half-time, and just past the hour the score read 52-0. The wonder is they did not score more.
Every piece of possession – and there were lots of them – looked as if it would end in a try. Marcus Smith was back to his bewitching best, just in time for the autumn internationals. And if he wasn’t tearing Newcastle apart, there were plenty more who proved only too keen. Jarrod Evans moved from fly-half to inside centre to accommodate Smith, and the presence of two brilliant playmakers in the same midfield was too much for the Red Bulls, whose long wait for a win on the road stretches ever closer to that three-year mark.
When every journey is a long one, life is that little bit harder, but the corollary of Newcastle’s remoteness is their strategic importance to the game in England. Red Bull’s investment has come as welcome news, but if their project is for the long term, the here and now must still be negotiated.
After five games, Newcastle find themselves in familiar territory, almost as far away from the others in the table as they are geographically. They have conceded an average of nearly seven tries and 45 points a match. Tom Christie, fresh from captaining Canterbury to the NPC in New Zealand, cannot arrive soon enough.
None of which is Harlequins’ problem. They have a few of their own, as demonstrated by their 38-0 defeat by Exeter, but few can match them when they are in this form. They thought they had scored within five minutes, but Green’s pass to Rodrigo Isgró was judged forward. A few minutes later, Green’s slashing break on the left ended only when he slipped, but Luke Northmore was on hand to finish from closer range after a tapped penalty. And so the exhibition was under way.
Green scored himself from close range, before Smith performed one of several loops round Evans that had the visitors looking as if their Red Bull had been laced. Will Porter ran in Smith’s inside pass for the third, before Isgró scored the pick of the tries with an outrageous finish. Porter this time looped round Smith and stabbed a chip through, which Isgró managed to hack ahead, before reaching over the touchline to gather the ball and dot down in next to no space.
Evans sold a dummy that three defenders bought to set up an attack, which ended with Green’s second, put away by more wizardry between Evans and Smith.
Henry Slade staked a strong claim for inclusion in England’s team to face Australia next weekend with a superb all-round display as Exeter eased to a third win of the season by beating struggling Gloucester 39-12 at Sandy Park. The centre Slade racked up another 22 points to add to the 23 he scored in the home win over Harlequins six days before, including another two tries.
Exeter's attack coach, Dave Walder, said: "He has been fantastic since I have come to the club, he has been fantastic here for a long time, watching him from afar, he is great to work with, and it is nice to see him enjoying his rugby with the way he is playing … it is very exciting for us."
Slade had ignited the contest with the conversion of the hooker Joseph Dweba’s catch-and-drive try after only five minutes, but Gloucester responded with an early contender for try of the season only three minutes later. Jack Cotgreave gathered the ball just outside his own 22 and went off an excellent run before feeding Tomos Williams, who put Will Joseph over for an excellent score, improved by Ross Byrne.
Exeter, though, then scored two tries in four minutes. Slade and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso put the Chiefs on top again before Freddie Thomas restored hope for the visitors.
The second half was a complete opposite to the opening 40 minutes, with a feast of rugby replaced by a very messy war of attrition. But Rob Baxter's side added further tries through Slade and Jack Yeandle to claim a bonus point. The win leaves Exeter in third place.
Adam Radwan dropped a broad hint to Steve Borthwick with two tries as Leicester held off a second-half fightback from Sale to claim a nailbiting 36-35 victory at Welford Road. The prolific Tigers wing showed his finishing ability once again to take his tally to 14 tries in 14 league appearances for Leicester since moving from Newcastle last season.
Radwan, 27, who won the last of his two England caps in 2021, trained with the national squad last week and is pushing hard for inclusion. Sale, crushed 65-14 by Saracens last weekend, put up much more of a fight and with Luke James grabbing a second half hat-trick, pushed the Tigers all the way but they had to settle for two bonus points at the end of a 10-try thriller. PA Media
Green, Quins’ actual full-back, was off with a limp 10 minutes into the second half, joining his fellow try-scorer Northmore on the treatment table. Some of Quins’ dazzle went with him, but they were 40-0 up by then. Smith conjured another try, for Cassius Cleaves, Green’s replacement, just shy of the hour. And when George Turner, looking to reingratiate himself with the Scotland selectors, scored Quins’ eighth, their second from a boring old lineout and drive, we had our 52-0 scoreline.
Newcastle rallied in the last five minutes, with tries for Ollie Leatherbrow and Murray McCallum, which will only partially lighten the mood on the long journey home. Quins will spend the international break pondering their latest seesaw in fortunes.
“We’re not proud of last week at all,” said Jason Gilmore, their head coach. “We’re probably a win short of where I’d hope wee be with everything that’s gone on in this block [of fixtures], but I’m proud that we got the five today. We can take a breath and really get our focus for the next block.”
Harlequins T Green (Benson 50); Isgro, Northmore (Cleaves 30), J Evans, Murley (capt); Smith, Porter (M Green 67); Baxter (Wenger 61), Walker (Turner 53), Williams (Delgado 53), Petti, Lewies (Launchbury 61), Kenningham (J Green 61), W Evans, Carr
Tries Northmore, T Green 2, Porter, Isgro, W Evans, Cleaves, Turner Cons Smith 6
Newcastle Coetzee; Obatoyinbo (Greenwood 44), Spencer, Clark, Hearle; Connon, Benitez Cruz (Elliott 77); Brocklebank (McCallum 53), McGuigan (capt; Fletcher 60), Palframan (De Bruin 53), Hodgson, Clarke (Usher ht), Lee-Warner, Gordon (Leatherbrow 68), Mafi (Lockwood 53)
Tries Leatherbrow, McCallum Cons Connon 2
Referee Craig Maxwell-Keys
