Quins off the mark

London Irish struggled to breach the Quins defence

Harlequins 29-19 London Irish

Harlequins finally managed to get their Premiership campaign off the ground with a well-earned victory over London Irish.

Quins had suffered a dismal start to the season with consecutive defeats against Gloucester, Leicester and Leeds.

We were taken apart from the word go

Conor O'Shea
London Irish director of rugby

But they made amends in front of a full house at The Stoop, outscoring their former tenants by three tries to one.

Photos from Saturday's matches

Irish fly-halves Paul Burke and Barry Everitt exchanged penalties early on before Quins seized the initiative with the opening try.

The home pack drove deep into Irish territory from a line-out, and when the ball was recycled, winger Matt Moore was on hand to touch down.

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Two further penalties apiece for Burke and Everitt left the game poised at 14-9 early in the second half.

The next try would be vital and it went to Quins when half-backs Scott Bemand and Burke set up Ben Gollings from a five-yard scrum.

We played with a lot of heart, spirit and passion

Mark Evans
Harlequins chief executive

Substitute David Slemen slotted a 59th-minute drop goal before Everitt kept the Exiles in touch with a fourth penalty.

However, the stand-off then slipped up with a wayward kick that was picked off by Nick Greenstock, who ran 60 metres for a spectacular try.

Slemen converted for 29-12 and, although Pieter Rossouw scored a late try for Irish, Quins had enough in hand to claim a long-awaited win.

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Harlequins: Williams; Moore, Greenstock, Satala, Gollings; Burke, Bemand; Leonard, Fuga, Gomez, Davison, Codling, Tiatia, Sanderson, Diprose.
Replacements: Rudzki, Starr, Evans, Sheriff, Duncombe, Jewell, Slemen.

London Irish: Horak; Barrett, Burrows, Appleford, Rossouw, Everitt, Edwards, Worsley, Kirke, Hardwick, Burke, Casey, Danaher, Dawson, Strudwick.
Replacements: Martens, Mapletoft, Gustard, Cockle, Drotske, Hatley, Durant.

Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU)