Quins extend hot streak

Harlequins secured a 10th win from their last 11 matches in all competitions as they saw off a disappointing Sale outfit 21-9 at the Stoop.

The hosts raced into a 15-point lead with just over quarter of an hour gone after tries from Joe Gray and Mike Brown and were never in danger of being caught.

Quins showed more creativity with ball in hand and had the pitch not been in poor condition due to heavy morning rain, the margin of victory could have been even greater.

The home side squandered a great chance of a perfect start when Ugo Monye opted to go for the line himself with two men free outside him, before a final pass from Brown to Gray went astray.

They did open the scoring in the seventh minute when Rory Clegg kicked a simple penalty, but shortly after were again denied a try when Will Cliff raced back to prevent a kick-and-chase from Brown.

The try came in the 13th minute, however, as Gray burst clear of some half-hearted tackling to touch down, with Clegg adding the extras.

And Sale were 15-0 down just three minutes later as Brown collected his own kick ahead before crossing the try-line to cap a devastating opening for the visitors.

Dominance

Quins continued to dominate the contest but were undone by poor line-out work and could not build up the sustained pressure required to extend the advantage.

In fact, it was Sale who grabbed the next points as Ben Cohen broke clear to beat three defenders before contributions from Sisaro Koyamaibole and Cohen again put the home line under siege.

But the Quins defence held firm, with the Sharks having to settle for three points after Charlie Hodgson knocked over a simple penalty.

Fly-half Clegg responded with a penalty of his own before missing a further attempt to leave the score 18-3 as the teams headed into the half-time interval.

A 40-metre penalty from Hodgson reduced the deficit shortly after the restart, but that effort was again cancelled out by Clegg in the 45th minute.

Quins continued to press as Sale prop Henry Thomas was penalised for a late tackle and the hosts opted against going for the points, but they were prevented from scoring a third try by some stout Sharks defending.

The game deteriorated as a spectacle as the second half went on, with a 30-metre Hodgson penalty and the late sin-binning of George Lowe and Cohen the only talking points.