Quins beat Sarries to secure first league win
Harlequins beat Saracens 20-14 to secure their first league win of the campaign – giving new Aussie head coach Jason Gilmore his first victory since replacing Danny Wilson last month.
The return of Marcus Smith and the sight of their old London adversaries in the opposition dugout to further motivate them proved just the ticket.
The hope must be that this win is a turning point after a slow start to the season.
The previous week’s 29-19 loss to Leicester Tigers at Welford Road followed on from a chastening 47-31 defeat to Bath at the Stoop on matchday one – with a common theme being a worrying drop in intensity during the second halves of those fixtures.
Both times they threw away half time leads, and as the club’s former defence coach, it was not an auspicious start for Gilmore.
The other results had not been too clever either, with defeats to Leicester and Newcastle in the Prem Cup and pre-season friendly losses to Benetton and Castres.
No such problems this time. Here at last was the improvement demanded against a Sarries side who won their opening two fixtures but who were beaten twice by Quins last season.
Smith returned to marshal the side from fly-half after fulfilling his period of mandatory rest. Cadan Murley started on the left-wing and skippered the side after missing last weekend’s fixture against Tigers.
Smith wasted no time in reminding Quins fans of how different they are with him around.
After an up-and-under had pinned Sarries back, the stand-off’s trademark side-step allowed him to get past two tacklers and reach out for the tryline. He then converted his own five-pointer from out wide.
Receiving just as big a cheer from home fans was the sight of an unchallenged Owen Farrell knocking on at the edge of his 22. Omens, omens.
Fergus Burke finished off a fine breakaway to level matters with the first real moment of danger from the visitors. Farrell converted.
Smith thought he’d restored the lead with a close-range try but TMO ruled the scrum which preceded the attack had not been correctly executed. However, Smith immediately potted a penalty won by the forwards from the re-taken set piece.
Straight after the turn-around, full-back Tyrone Green profited from a loose ball near half way to kick ahead and chase all by himself – dotting down near the posts to give Smith an easy conversion.
We knew not to get too excited just yet, though and when Farrell’s kick wide was caught and touched down by Ben Earl, the gap was back to three points.
But the game management was good in the closing stages, with the game played deep into the visitors’ half and Smith having the last word with a penalty.
There were many plus points as well as the obvious ones gained on the scoreboard for the hosts.
Alex Dombrandt was named on the bench after managing a knock sustained on the road last week and took part.
There was the return of Argentina international Rodrigo Isgró, who started on the right wing after a successful 2025 Rugby Championship campaign, while back rower Guido Petti Pagadizábal was on duty following his arrival from Investec Champions Cup champions, Union Bordeaux Bègles this summer.
Quins gave two further Pumas their first taste of Prem rugby too – Boris Wenger and Pedro Delgado – while Stu Townsend also got his first competitive outing Quins following his arrival from Exeter Chiefs this summer. flex-wrap: nowrap;”>
