Ulster Rugby v Harlequins

A SEASONAL UPDATE FROM HARLEQUINS

Following defeat to Ulster Rugby – to all but end their European Rugby Champions Cup campaign – Harlequins head to Belfast in search of a positive result ahead of a crucial period in the Aviva Premiership.

Harlequins’ season began in earnest with a defeat to Premiership newcomers London Irish before victories over Gloucester Rugby and away to old foes Wasps helped solidify the start to the league campaign. In a season of mixed results, defeats to Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints followed ahead of a convincing win over Sale Sharks at The Stoop. Returning to the competition for the first time since the 2014/15 season, Harlequins opened their Champions Cup campaign with a 27-34 defeat to the impressive La Rochelle. That was followed up eight days later with a 41-10 drubbing at the hands of Wasps with elimination from the competition staring them in the face. In the league, an end to end match against Worcester Warriors saw Harlequins take the spoils ahead of the autumn internationals and the beginning of the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

The back to back road matches then saw Harlequins arrive in Somerset to face Bath Rugby at The Rec. A nightmare first 30 minutes saw Bath race into a commanding lead with Harlequins a man down and young fly-half Marcus Smith off injured. Youngsters Henry Cheeseman and Gabriel Ibitoye both crossed but it wasn’t enough to salvage a losing bonus point. With the international contingent returning, Harlequins welcomed an out of form Saracens to The Stoop. Mark McCall’s side dashed into a 0-10 lead thanks to the try of Brad Barritt and the boot of Owen Farrell. However, Charlie Walker got on the end of an impressive Danny Care cross kick to make the score 5-10 at the break. With Harlequins trailing 8-16 with ten minutes left on the clock, the comeback sprung into life when Care and Walker again combined for the winger to race onto Care’s kick through and crossed over the line. Farrell added another penalty to stretch the lead to 15-19, before Care completed his hat-trick of assists when his cross-field kick was knocked in the air by Alex Goode and Tim Visser pounced first to gather it and race over to win the match. With spirits high, Harlequins welcomed Ulster to The Stoop to re-ignite their chances of making it out of Pool 1 in the Champions Cup. At a snowy Stoop, Ulster handled the conditions much better than their hosts and secured a 5-17 win thanks to the try of Jacob Stockdale and the impressive goal kicking of John Cooney.

HARLEQUINS: THE SEASON SO FAR The Londoners took maximum points from their first two matches in the competition; the thrilling comeback win against London rivals Saracens before a 45-37 win over Worcester Warriors. A return to the Aviva Premiership saw an injury-

ridden squad take on three of the league’s high-flyers in league champions Exeter Chiefs, Bath Rugby and reigning European Champions Saracens. The trip to Sandy Park saw a strong opening half for the Londoners but Harlequins ran out of steam in the second 40 and Exeter secured a bonus point win.

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