Defending champions Harlequins claim bonus-point win against Worcester

Harlequins’ squad depth shone through in a 29-21 win away to Worcester.

The game started early but certainly not with opportunities missed for Quins,  as in the first eight minutes André Esterhuizen only made touch in one of his three attempts from penalties.

Tyrone Green, being the star player in the opening 10 minutes, made metres for Quins at every opportunity as expected so far but still no break of the deadlock.

Worcester Warriors had the best chance of the opening 15 minutes as Oli Morris intercepted on the Quins 22 but was held up after a brilliant tackle from Huw Jones racing back to his own line.

The Warriors finally broke the deadlock in the 18th minute.

A great kick return from Alex Hearle left them five metres out and then worked the phases perfectly. The ball was popped right to Noah Heward who slid over leaving Fin Smith to add the extra two and give them a 7-0 lead.

Green was front and centre once again bringing Quins back into the game in the process in the 23rd minute.

A beautiful first touch after a wayward bounce from a Will Edwards kick put the ball straight into Green’s arms. Edwards kicked to bring the game level.

Danny Care pulled off what he does best to put Quins out in front and take a 14-7 lead with a kick from Edwards in the 35th minute.

A ruck five metres out gave Care the opportunity to fake the pass to and stepped right round the corner and with an outstretched arm just scraped the paint to give Quins the lead.

The Warriors are not called that for no reason and made sure they brought the game level just on half-time.

Sione Vailanu made his presence known barrelling over from 10 metres out with no one able to stop him. Smith kicking the conversion to bring things level at the break.

10 minutes had passed in the second half before Quins got something together to form a disciplined attack.

Edwards threw a wonder pass missing out three people leaving Archie White to step inside and dive over for his first premiership try and to give Quins a 19-14 lead.

The Warriors could not capitalise as Quins gave themselves 10 minutes of nervousness in the 54th as Care bought himself a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

Tommaso Allan kicked a penalty from a yard of the 10-metre line to give Quins a lead of over a converted try and the score to 22-14 in the 66th minute.

The Warriors fought hard to try and keep themselves in the game and to prevent a Quins bonus point try but that effort fell short in the 75th minute.

Tom Lawday broke through after constant pressure on the five-metre line to make the game unreachable taking on man-of-the-match in the process before Allan kicked the conversion to bring the score to 29-14.

Despite the game looking out of reach, the Warriors did not give in. Space out wide allowed Hearle to break before the ball was popped to Seb Atkinson who on his first start as the Warriors’ youngest ever starting centre scored to give the home side a sniff of a bonus point or two.

This was not enough for the Warriors as Quins took away a bonus point 29-21 win leaving the home side coming away with nothing.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt