Harlequins comfortably beat Newcastle Falcons 24-3 to move top of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby table ahead of the weekend fixtures. Four tries by the visitors secured them the bonus point and consigned Newcastle to an 11th straight Premiership defeat. Quins are next in action in the Investec Champions Cup against Cardiff, while the Falcons welcome Benetton in the Challenge Cup.
Harlequins heaped more misery on Newcastle Falcons with a comfortable 24-3 victory at Kingston Park.
Defeat was the 11th in a row in Gallagher Premiership Rugby for the Falcons, who are rooted to the bottom of the table without a win and with just four bonus points to show for their efforts this season.
At the other end, the bonus-point victory took Quins above Northampton Saints into top spot by two points ahead of the weekend fixtures.
The visitors made six changes for their trip up north and wasted little time in moving ahead in drizzly conditions when winger Nick David touched down within 90 seconds at the end of a slick move.
Andre Esterhuizen got Quins’ second in the 29th minute before a Newcastle penalty kept the hosts within a score at 10-3 down at the break.
Those were the only points Alex Codling’s side registered on another tough night for the Falcons.
Converted tries from Jack Walker and George Hammond sealed the win and the five points for Harlequins ahead of their return to Investec Champions Cup action against Cardiff next week.
As for Newcastle, after giving Saracens a scare last week, this was another setback in a season seemingly full of them.
They will hope to bounce back when they welcome Benetton in the Challenge Cup next.
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