Billy Millard savoured a “massive” result for Harlequins as they made light of some big-name absentees to move to the top of the Gallagher Premiership with a bonus-point 24-3 victory away to beleaguered Newcastle.
The England trio Danny Care, Marcus Smith and Joe Marler were among those who sat out the trip to the north east, but Quins got themselves in front after 67 seconds through Nick David before further scores from André Esterhuizen, Jack Walker and George Hammond took the game away from the hosts.
The victory elevated Quins from sixth place to top of the table, overnight at least. “It’s a really important win for us,” said the Harlequins director of rugby Millard. “It was far from perfect but that’s a big win and big points for us.
“We had chances to extend our lead in the first half but we didn’t convert three or four chances. Our scrum was outstanding, it really gave us an early foothold, and our defence was great.”
Millard was pleased to see his team leave Kingston Park top of the league. “There’s a long way to go but we’ll take it,” he said. “You’ve just got to keep winning because it’s such a tight competition and everyone else keeps winning. It was massive points for us.”
Alex Sanderson chastised Sale Sharks’ inconsistency after a costly 22-14 home defeat to Bristol Bears. Victory would have taken Sharks back to the Premiership summit but they instead slumped to a first home defeat in 14 months against third-from-bottom Bears.
Sharks could even sit as low as sixth if Bath and Saracens win this weekend, and Sanderson did not mince his words after a deeply damaging defeat. “I’m not bothered at all about the home record going, I’m just after more consistent performances from the lads, week in, week out,” said the Sharks director of rugby.
“We’re just not getting that at the moment, it’s really disappointing. We had the opportunities, particularly in the first half, but we made too many inconsistent calls and there was too much sloppy indiscipline out there. Fair play to Bristol, they converted half as many opportunities as we did, and that’s frustrating for me. The players will take ownership of this result, though, I’m just so disappointed we didn’t get over the line.”
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In the absence of fly-half George Ford, Sale struggled to assert themselves and were behind 14-0 midway through the first half after tries from Harry Randall and Gabriel Ibitoye. Jonny Hill responded for the hosts, but Max Malins delivered a sucker punch just after half-time and AJ MacGinty’s late penalty ensured Agustín Creevy’s second-half score counted for nothing.