Evans form sinks Saints

Evans: Stars for Quins again

Another expert display of kicking from Harlequins fly-half Nick Evans gave his side a 26-13 victory over Northampton and top spot in the embryonic Aviva Premiership table.

Former All Black Evans booted 16 points from six attempts and has now scored from 13 consecutive kicks at goal in two games to start the season.

Both teams won their opening game last weekend which meant the victors topping the Aviva Premiership, if only for 24 hours, and that honour went to Quins despite losing openside Will Skinner shortly before kick-off - after he complained of a dizzy spell having suffered a head injury last weekend.

The hosts struck first after 10 phases of possession from the kick-off resulted in Evans kicking over a fourth-minute penalty, and it was noticeable that Harlequins were playing at a quicker pace than Saints during the first quarter.

Saints did recover from their early scrambles, but it was Quins who extended their lead in the 20th minute. Two Saints went off their feet defending their line and Evans made no mistake with the resultant penalty.

Saints lead

Yet Northampton were ahead three minutes later. They kicked a penalty to touch, won the lineout, retained ball through the phases in which Noah Cato was key, and Greg Tonks smashed through two tackles to score from close-range on the right.

The lead lasted only six minutes though as the referee spotted an offside as Quins bore down on the 22 and the deadly Evans, who kicked 19 points against London Irish at Twickenham last Saturday, nudged his team back in front.

Saints were now back under pressure and when Phil Dowson caught Mike Brown with a swinging arm, referee Doyle gave him a warning and Evans another penalty, which he dispatched without fuss.

Quins began the second half like they did the first, only this time they scored a try - when Karl Dickson broke off the back of a scrum, dummied one challenge and armed hooker Joe Gray to power through by the posts. Evans added the conversion.

Myler kicked a goal to halt the scoreboard run, but the relief was temporary as Quins scored their second try off a move that had fans out of their seats.

Back play

Sublime back-play seemed doomed to failure confronted by a solid defence - but Evans and Jordan Turner-Hall executed a lovely loop-switch that released Ugo Monye to score on the left.

The one area where Saints were dominant, however, was the scrum and they won another penalty for Quins collapsing which Ryan Lamb scored.

Instead of taking control with a substantial lead, Quins began to display serious jitters, which got worse when James Johnson was sin-binned six minutes from time for going off his feet to halt a Saints drive.

But Quins managed to shut out a side who failed to turn huge possession in the final quarter into points.