Santi Carreras makes a splash as Bath open with victory at Harlequins

Santi Carreras produced a wonder try as Bath exploited the absence of Harlequins’ England contingent to launch their Gallagher Prem title challenge with a 33-17 victory at The Stoop.

Carreras stopped a certain try by kicking a final pass destined for Cadan Murley while it was in mid-air, darting forwards to catch the ball and then winning the foot race that began just outside his own 22.

It was a unique score from the Argentina full-back that mixed skill and athleticism and crucially it came in the 32nd minute as Harlequins looked to capitalise on the threats created by their high-tempo attack.

While Bath produced fewer thrills, they entered the interval 28-10 ahead with their line-out maul an important weapon and they also finished the stronger of the sides once Quins had run out of steam.

Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt, Fin Baxter and George Furbank were missing through injury, leaving Murley and Chandler Cunningham-South as the last men standing from their England contingent, but Quins shrugged off the losses.

From the start they looked to play at breakneck speed and while it was electric at times, Bath had the confidence to soak up the waves of attack and take their chances when they came.

Dan du Preez finished a maul try on his Bath debut as his team expertly squeezed territory but Will Porter hit back for the hosts by darting clear from a line-out and crossing, evading tackles as he went.

The exchange of tries continued when Joe Cokanasiga exploited a defence that had fragmented after Carreras had escaped down the left before Cunningham-South arrived in support to round off a dynamic Harlequins break.

The score was a reprieve for Cunningham-South, who had started like a freight train only to drop two passes in strong positions.

Quins were fighting for everything and attacking with precision, but in the 33rd minute they had to absorb the blow of seeing Carreras race free for his try of the season contender just as they were about to score themselves.

Having been under pressure for lengthy spells of the first-half, canny Bath then struck again with Dan Frost on the end of a line-out maul just moments after Sam Underhill knocked on with the line begging.

The third quarter was all Harlequins as Pedro Delgado blasted over from close range following an infield charge by Murley and the try was the prelude to a sustained assault on the Bath 22.

Quins replacement hooker Sam Riley was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle and it was Bath who came on strong in the final quarter with Ewan Richards finishing another maul try to seal the result.