Basement dwellers Harlequins finally click at Saracens' expense

Harlequins clinched their first Gallagher Prem win of the season in a 33-15 rout of Saracens that produced a successful comeback for England prop Fin Baxter in time for the Nations Championship.

Marcus Smith was at the heart of a conclusive victory at The Stoop that fails to lift Quins off the foot of the table but lights the path ahead as they look to recover from a dismal start to the season.

Tries by man-of-the-match Smith, Seb Driscoll, Cadan Murley and Will Porter registered the bonus point to claim bragging rights over their London rivals, with a committed afternoon in defence also crucial.

Saracens’ England second rows Maro Itoje and George Martin may have started a Prem game together for the first time but it was Quins’ pack that showed their steel to answer some of the doubts that had arisen over their ability to mix it in the Prem this season.

Baxter’s return certainly helped in this regard with the loosehead making an assured first appearance since sustaining a foot injury 10 months ago, completing 40 minutes with England’s autumn opener against Australia a fortnight away.

It took just 175 seconds for Smith to stamp his authority on the match after he took control once Lucas Schmid had carried into Saracens’ guts, launching an attack and then finishing it on his 200th appearance for the club.

Quins showed their teeth up front when only disruption from Ben Earl prevented their maul from scoring and Driscoll was the next over the whitewash after running through Tomos Williams once Baxter had offloaded in the tackle.

Saracens’ first meaningful attack ended in a well-taken try by Rotimi Segun, who was able to strike off Williams’ long pass, but they were soon back defending a maul that led to a penalty try conceded by Earl.

This time Earl’s illegal mining had been spotted and he spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin. No sooner had he returned than Saracens lost a second player to a yellow card after Fergus Burke made a dangerous tackle on Rodrigo Isgro.

On the next passage of play Quins struck again when an over the top pass sent Murley over.

Saracens thought they had scored through Max Malins but he had the ball dislodged by a last-gasp tackle from Smith when all he had to do was touch down, although they at least ended the first-half with a maul try by Theo Dan.

Burke failed an HIA as a result of his upright tackle on Isgro so Malins slotted in at fly-half and then Andy Onyeama-Christie departed after taking a head knock.

Quins dominated the third quarter but it was not until the 55th minute that they crossed again with Porter pouncing on a mistake by Segun following an unkind pass from Williams and finishing in thrilling fashion.

Passive defending by Saracens waved Porter through but they responded with a well-taken try from Nick Tompkins before a well drilled home defence shut out any further scores.