Harlequins run in six tries in 41-18 Challenge Cup win over Montpellier
Last Updated: 13/11/15 9:49am
Jake White's first audition for the vacant England head coach job ended in a 41-18 six-try defeat at Harlequins on Thursday evening.
The South African, who is one of the favourites to succeed Stuart Lancaster, has told Sky Sports News HQ he is interested in the job, but watched his Montpellier side to succumbed to a rampant second-half Quins display in their European Challenge Cup opener at The Stoop.
The French side began well, opening up a nine-point lead as the hosts' ragged set-piece gifted scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue three unanswered penalties.
Paillaugue then traded another penalty kick with Nick Evans before Quins finally woke up with flanker Luke Wallace crossing after a series of tight drives.
Montpellier prop Mikheil Nariashvili then took down a maul illegally and on the wrong side and once he duly departed to the sin-bin, veteran No 8 Nick Easter squeezed home to capitalise on the extra man.
Evans' conversion left Quins 15-12 ahead at the break - with Montpellier's Francois Trinh-Duc failing with a speculative drop-goal attempt - and they opened the second half with a third driven score, flanker Jack Clifford burrowing over.
Harlequins again exploited Montpellier's soft centre for the bonus-point score just ahead of the hour, scrum-half Danny Care capping a driving maul to extend the home advantage to 12 points, and not even Paillaugue's sixth penalty could rouse Montpellier, with Quins claiming the try of the night.
After Quins seized on Sitaleki Timani's knock-on, Marland Yarde fed Care after a neat chip and collect, before the half-back fed Mike Brown, who had the vision to send Ollie Lindsay-Hague under the posts.
Chris Robshaw - on at half-time as Conor O'Shea continues to ease the England captain back after the World Cup trauma - claimed a late sixth score as Quins turned the screw still further to secure a flawless start to their second-tier European campaign.
