Harlequins 36-3 Sale Sharks: Gallagher Premiership Rugby leaders thrashed as five-try Quins run riot at Stoop

Harlequins delivered a statement performance, out-playing Gallagher Premiership Rugby league leaders Sale Sharks in some style on a freezing night at The Stoop to run out 36-3 winners.

In a match billed as a face-off between the two main contenders for the England No. 10 shirt, it was Marcus Smith who got the better of George Ford, pulling the strings throughout as the home side mixed things up tactically, alternating between a heavy-kicking approach and their trademark running game.

The first score came courtesy of a defensive error from a Smith cross-field kick, with Tyrone Green taking advantage for the only try of the first half. And Smith was at it again just after the interval, making a searing line break before sending Danny Care over for a score that gave the hosts some breathing space on the scoreboard.

Quins took advantage of 10 minutes with a man advantage to pull clear, with Sam Riley spinning off the back of a maul to add a third try, before Will Joseph bagged two well-taken late scores to seal a bonus point.

Victory by such a large margin is a real statement of intent for Quins, putting them right back in the mix at the top of the table, while Sale have some big thinking to do after a disappointing night in Twickenham.

Steve Borthwick’s decision on who to start as England fly-half in the absence of Owen Farrell won’t be decided by one performance. But the Marcus Smith vs George Ford battle was won overwhelmingly by the Quins man on this occasion.

Handed the benefit of a brilliant attacking platform by a dominant Quins pack, Smith ran the game, dictating territory throughout and producing moments of magic of his own.

With Smith in this sort of form then Harlequins will have real aspirations of pushing for the title.

The Harlequins fly-half was at his superb best on the night, dictating the game with his kicking from hand and making crucial attacking contributions, not least with his sublime line break for the second try.

Speaking after the match, Smith said: “The group’s had to dig deep, the last couple of weeks it hasn’t gone our way, to lose the other week to our rivals… we’ve had to do a lot of soul searching.

“We felt this week was massively important in order to get our Premiership campaign back on track. To come back like this, in front of our friends and family, it’s special. We can enjoy the weekend now.”

Harlequins: 15. Tyrone Green 9, 14. Nick David 8, 13. Will Joseph 9, 12. Andre Esterhuizen 8, 11. Cadan Murley 8, 10. Marcus Smith 9, 9. Danny Care 9, 1. Joe Marler 9, 2. Sam Riley 8, 3. Dillon Lewis 9, 4. Joe Launchbury 8, 5. Dino Lamb 8, 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 8, 7. Will Evans 8, 8. Alex Dombrandt 9. Replacements: 16. Nathan Jibulu 7, 17. Fin Baxter 7, 18. Irne Herbst 7, 19. James Chisholm 7, 20. Will Porter 7, 21. Jarrod Evans 7, 22. Oscar Beard 7, 23. Lovejoy Chawatawa 7.

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter 5, 14. Tom Roebuck 6, 13. Rob du Preez 6, 12. Sam Bedlow 6, 11. Arron Reed 5, 10. George Ford 5, 9. Gus Warr 5, 1. Simon McIntyre 5, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie 6, 3. Nik Schonert 5, 4. Cobus Wiese 5, 5. Jonny Hill 5, 6. Ernst van Rhyn 6, 7. Ben Curry 7, 8. Daniel du Preez 6. Replacements: 16. Agustin Creevy 7, 17. Ross Harrison 6, 18. Josh Beaumont 6, 19. Sam Dugdale 6, 20. Raffi Quirke 7, 22. Tom O’Flaherty 6, 23. Asher Opoku 7

Marcus Smith has been pulling the strings superbly in these opening minutes, and a probing kick forces a mistake out on the touchline by Sale. Green is on hand to latch onto a loose ball and touch down unopposed.

That is vintage Marcus Smith. The Quins fly-half throws a dummy pass and hits a gap, throwing in a big step to break into space and then finding the off-load to put Danny Care in under the posts. Class.

Sale’s 14 men defend a maul inside their own 22, but Riley bides his time before spinning off the back and crossing for a third Quins try. Smith slides his conversion wide, but that could be game over.

That’s the game. And it’s a bonus point for Harlequins too. The hosts break on the outside after a big missed pass from Smith, and the support runners arrive in force as a brace of inside passes allow Will Joseph to cross for the fourth try of the night. Smith adds the extra two points and the Twickenham Stoop is rocking.

It’s a second of the evening for Will Joseph as he bumps off a challenge and dots down in the corner. Phase after phase had come with the Sale try-line in sight, before Quins opted to throw the ball wide, where Joseph bumped off Hill and muscled over in the corner. The conversion is good and this is a rout now.

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