The scary Harlequins stat that has Danny Care concerned

Former Harlequins scrum-half turned TV pundit Danny Care was brutally honest in his assessment of his old team’s performance as they fell to a crushing 40-14 defeat to Bristol at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday evening.

Harlequins’ first ‘Big Game’ defeat in over 10 years leaves them third from bottom in the Gallagher PREM and already they look certain to miss out on the end-of-season play-offs.

Speaking on TNT Sports after the match, Care said: “That’s the stark reality of where Harlequins are at the moment. They were second-best in every single aspect of the game. When you boil the whole game of rugby union down, it comes down to physicality, and Quins were the least physical side out there, both sides of the ball.

“In attack they looked a little bit helpless, they didn’t seem to hit the weak shoulders, they were running straight into people; we didn’t see the Quins style, the Quins flair, and in defence they were so soft, they just looked soft tonight, which is a worrying thing.

“They didn’t really fire a shot. It took 47 phases in the red-zone for them to score their first try. Their red-zone efficiency was the worst in the league before that game, I would hate to see that stat now.”

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Quins have 10 points from their first seven league games, leaving them 16 points behind Leicester in fourth with 11 games of the regular season left to play.

Jason Gilmore’s side have two tricky away fixtures in their next two games, against Sale Sharks on Boxing Day and against Northampton Saints on 3 January.

Care added: “It is very unforgiving, rugby. They have to get back on the horse, and they have got to get back on the horse very quickly.”