Ulster-bound rookie steals the limelight as Marcus Smith's Harlequins crush Newcastle

Jamie Benson scored a hat-trick as Harlequins ran in 12 tries to thrash Newcastle 76-17 in the Gallagher Prem.

A basement battle between the two bottom teams at Kingston Park started with Alex Dombrandt, Benson and Bryn Bradley all scoring in the opening 15 minutes for the visitors before Adam Brocklebank replied.

The damage was ultimately done in the first half where a ruthless display saw Cadan Murley, Sam Riley, Marcus Smith and Will Hobson all cross along with a Josh Hodge effort for Newcastle as Harlequins took a mammoth 45-10 lead at the break.

Luke Northmore grounded early in the second half before Benson scored twice in quick succession to complete his hat-trick and tries from Bradley and Jimmy Staples secured Quins’ fourth Prem win this season.

Harlequins went ahead three minutes into the contest when skipper Dombrandt reached over the line to touch down, with Smith adding the extras.

Newcastle were handed a blow when Ben Healy was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and the visitors soon capitalised on their player advantage with their second try of the match.

Riley picked the ball up and burst forward before offloading into Benson on the left flank to cross, but Smith’s conversion flew wide.

Just two minutes later Cameron Anderson broke through to play in Bradley for the centre to race over the line and ground, with Smith’s kick successful.

Newcastle pulled one back when prop Brocklebank powered over from close-range, but Brett Connon could not convert.

However, Quins soon found further success on the left wing when Murley eased through to ground. Smith missed his conversion attempt.

Riley then struck from a quickly taken penalty, easily stepping through to cross, with Smith adding the extras.

The England fly-half soon bagged a try of his own after latching onto Dombrandt’s offload and racing underneath the posts before converting his own attempt.

Harlequins’ rampant first-half display continued when Hobson charged through the home defence and dived between the sticks, with Smith slotting the kick.

A dominant first half performance was soured slightly for Quins when Benson was shown yellow for a deliberate knock-on and the hosts capitalised when Hodge grounded in the left corner, but Connon could not convert.

Early in the second half, Northmore sprinted from just inside the Newcastle half to score and Smith’s conversion attempt smashed the post.

A good move on the left saw Northmore turn provider to play Benson in and he coolly crossed before Smith converted.

Benson brought up his hat-trick three minutes later after combining with Will Porter to go over, with Smith’s kick successful, and Quins scored their 11th try of the game shortly afterwards when Bradley easily slipped through the defence.

Hodge earned his second try of the match for Newcastle after going over in the left corner and Healy added the extras.

However, Harlequins capped off a dominant afternoon when Staples dived through to score on his Prem debut, with Smith converting.