London Irish 34 : 19 Harlequins

Irish turned in a five star and five try performance to defeat Harlequins and progress to the next round of the Premiership Cup with a game to spare.

Declan Kidney’s side, composed largely of back-ups, led from the 11th minute when Fijian forward Albert Tuisue touched down and watched on as Noel Reid converted.

Thereafter, a competitive game unfolded in near perfect conditions for Friday night rugby under the lights at Brentford. 7887 was a decent crowd for a competition where most sides rest their star players and the fans were vocal in letting the second string players know their efforts were appreciated.

Quins hit back with venom. Matas Jurevicius, and George Hammond scored tries and the Twickenham outfit were 12-7 up, at least for three minutes before Hugh O’Sullivan kicked the game’s only penalty.

Mike Willemse, Tom Parton, captain Matt Rogerson and Lucio Cinti scored further tries for the Exiles with the Argentinian’s try being the games last and best moment. The mulleted Scot Kyle Rowe produced the game’s most scintillating run and probably could have capped it by a headlong dive himself, but chose to offload to Cinti who was perhaps the only player on either side to match the Scot’s pace.

For Quins Jurevicius, George Hammond and Lewis Gjaltema touched down but the game began to run away from Quins once Willemse restored the Irish lead just before half time. By the time Gjaltema scored Quins’ next points, they were 17 behind and nearly if not technically out of the cup. They will be hoping Exeter beat Worcester today without securing a bonus point, then Worcester and Gloucester both perish at Bath and Bristol on March 30, the day after they host Sale in their final match.

Elsewhere there were wins for Newcastle Falcons and Bristol. Falcons beat Leicester 36-28 and Bristol crushed Bath 61-19.

Irish now head Pool C with three wins out of three. Quins are nine behind them after their second loss. Worcester are the only other unbeaten side in the competition.

Today Sale host Wasps, Exeter Chiefs host Worcester Warriors and Saracens host Northampton Saints in the same competition.

The top team in each pool, plus the best overall runner-up, will progress to the semi-finals, with the highest ranked teams having home advantage.

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