'Last week everybody had a crack at him. Now everyone’s back on his bandwagon'

Jason Gilmore saluted Marcus Smith for another special Harlequins display but then made it clear his side’s Gallagher Prem fortunes do not solely revolve around the England star’s broad shoulders or performances.

The stunning rainbow which appeared over Twickenham Stoop heralded a colourful, shining display from Smith, who looks set to switch back to the number 15 jersey for England’s Autumn opener with Australia next Saturday.

And he duly signed off his club duties in style as man of the match in an eight-try, 52-14 thrashing of bottom club Newcastle.

Full-back Tyrone Green celebrated his 100th club game with a brace of tries but head coach Gilmore, who took over the reins from Danny Wilson at start of the season, insisted: “You can’t lump it all on Smithy.

“He has to play on the back door at times too. When he knocks it out the park like he did against Sarries (Saracens) everybody lauds him.

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“Last week against Exeter everybody had a crack at him. Now everyone’s back on his bandwagon this week. When the team functions well that’s when he’s at his best.

“But Harlequins isn’t just Marcus Smith. Like today the forwards won the collisions and players will look good when their team is moving forward.

“It’s a good result but I’m not getting carried away. We have to make sure we back it up.”

On full-back Green marking his century of games in fine style, Gilmore added: “Tyrone is a quiet achiever and doesn’t say a lot. He’s incredibly humble and a pint of difference for us. He’s growing his game.”

Red Bull’s huge investment into Newcastle has yet to yield a league win – and on this performance it may be some time coming.

Newcastle’s defence has now leaked 33 tries and 222 points in their opening five games, with late tries from Ollie Leatherbarrow and Murray McCallum failing to paper over the gaping cracks.

Head coach Alan Dickens tried his best to be upbeat but also admitted things need to quickly change in terms of performances and results to keep the new owners happy.

Dickens conceded: “It is a very disappointing result. We started so poorly. There were some hard words at half-time to say it wasn’t good enough and we needed to put it right.

“We kept handing the ball back to them and Quins are always dangerous with ball in hand.

“It’s one step forward and two steps back at present and we need to change that. It was a difficult game and there are a lot of disappointed players down there in the dressing room.”

Quins hooker George Turner felt his side fully deserved their impressive bonus point win and claimed: “We badly needed to respond after the Exeter loss and this was just the way to do it.

“We need to now build on this and put together a strong run in the league. Unfortunately we have a gap now for the internationals but we will be ready for when the Premiership starts up again.”