West London Club, Harlequins, ran in seven tries in Big Game 10 (played at Twickenham opposed to the Stoop) and consigned a shaky Northampton squad to their 7th straight Premiership defeat this season.
Harlequins (31) 50
Tries: Ward, Walker, Visser x2, Care x2, Luamanu
Cons: Smith x6
Pens: Smith
Northampton Saints (0) 21
Tries: Horne, Groom, Haywood
Cons: Myler x3
Harlequins came out firing and just past 30 minutes grabbed their 4-try bonus point through tries from Hooker Dave Ward, Charlie Walker, Danny Care and Scottish international Tim Visser.
Northampton began to show resilience after suffering for that half hour, and although they went in 31 - 0 down, a much improved second half allowed them to claw 21 points back into the game (with Harlequins managing to only add 19 to their scoreline after the half-time whistle).
The Saints' three tries came from Rob Horne, Nic Groom and Mikey Haywood.
Northampton's opening game of the season was part of the Twickenham double-header and Saracens conflicted a 55 - 24 defeat on them - meaning that this game is the second time this season that Northampton have conceded more than 50 in front of 70,000 supporters.
I saw big drawbacks in both teams' play, and although it seems as if Harlequins completely controlled the game - there were moments of absolute madness, and had they played one of the top four (especially Exeter or Gloucester) they would have been punished.
Northampton lay 10th, just 13 points ahead of main relegation contenders London Irish, and with Worcester on brilliant form (almost toppling the European Champions, Saracens, at Allianz Park today) one has to admit that it seems like a two horse race for relegation between Irish and the Saints; my prediction - Saints for relegation.
The game was live on Channel 5 in the UK, so it also marked the first time that an Aviva Premiership game was showcased on terrestrial TV.
My MOTM - Marcus Smith
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