Harlequins boost play-off chances after beating Leicester

Colin Newboult
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Harlequins' Marcus Smith

Harlequins moved into fourth position in the Premiership table following a battling 23-19 triumph over Leicester Tigers at the Twickenham Stoop.

In a tight first half, Leicester went into the interval 12-10 ahead via four George Ford penalties, while Quins responded through Danny Care’s try and Marcus Smith’s three-pointer.

The Tigers initially failed to add to their tally in the second period as Smith scored two more efforts from the tee and Semi Kunatani touched down, giving the Londoners a win which keeps them very much in the play-off equation.

Leicester did get some reward for their efforts when Mike Fitzgerald went over and that try took them 10 points clear of bottom placed Newcastle Falcons.

Geordan Murphy’s men have endured an atrocious season but, knowing that Premiership survival was within touching distance, they were much more competitive on Friday.

They started brightly, earning a penalty after two minutes which Ford converted for a 3-0 advantage, but Quins hit back soon after. The hosts have struggled for form over recent rounds, losing five in a row, but they managed to go ahead after good work from Alex Dombrandt.

The back-rower has been outstanding for the Londoners and his surge got the top-four contenders to within inches of the line before Care touched down from close range.

Smith’s conversion gave them a four-point buffer but the Tigers continued to battle and, following Ford’s second three-pointer, little separated the teams at the end of the first quarter.

The respective kickers them traded efforts off the tee before Quins were dealt a blow when Jack Clifford was sin-binned for taking out Telusa Veainu. With their opponents down to 14 men, Leicester increased the intensity and forced the hosts to infringe once again.

Ford was on target to send them into the break ahead, but they could not build on that at the start of the second period. Clifford returned without any further damage being done and they soon regained their lead through the boot of Smith.

It became a 16-12 advantage via their pivot and they were beginning to take control of proceedings. The Tigers were making errors and conceding penalties, but Paul Gustard’s charges could not put the visitors away going into the final 10 minutes.

They did finally get the decisive try, though, when Kunatani broke through and crossed the whitewash to give Quins an important win, despite Fitzgerald’s last-minute score.

In Friday’s other game, Bristol and Sale Sharks played out a thrilling 20-20 draw at Ashton Gate. The Sharks had moved into a 20-10 advantage at the start of the second period thanks to Denny Solomona and Faf de Klerk tries, with the scrum-half and AJ MacGinty sharing kicking duties, but the West Countrymen hit back.

Charles Piutau had gone over in the first half before Alapati Leiua followed him. Callum Sheedy then kicked a three-pointer to level matters, setting up an exciting finale, and both sides had chances to win.

It was a frantic finish, with Ian Madigan and De Klerk missing late attempts at goal before Bristol got to within inches of the line with the clock in the red, but Sale turned the ball over and ended the game.

Bristol