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Tim Visser touched down a hat-trick of tries as Harlequins thrashed London Irish 38-7 on Saturday
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Quins led 10-0 at half-time thanks to Visser’s opening score and five points from the tee via Nick Evans
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Danny Care celebrated signing a new contract at the club this week by scoring try after the break
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Visser then touched down two further scores before Jack Clifford rounded off the hosts scoring with Quins fifth try
New England head coach Eddie Jones sorted out his visa issues and was at Twickenham Stoop as a number of England regulars impressed on Saturday, but it was Tim Visser who starred as the Scotland winger touched down a hat-trick for Harlequins as they recorded a comfortable 38-7 bonus-point victory again London Irish.
The Exiles have now lost all six of their league games so far this season and as yet have not managed to tally a single league point while this victory continues Quins rejuvenated start to the campaign with them winning four of their opening six games.
Nick Evans notched an early penalty before converting Visser’s first on 32 minutes for a 10-0 half-time lead. Danny Care then stretched that lead to 15 points on 47 minutes before Visser got his second on the hour, Evans with the extras to make it 24-0 and put the result beyond doubt.
But there was more to come in the final quarter as Visser drove in for his third of the afternoon on 69 minutes and secure a try-scoring bonus point for the hosts.
Substitute Jack Clifford added a fifth try for Quins on 76 minutes, before a late consolation from Halani Aulika, Theo Brophy-Clews with the extras, completed the scoring.
MATCH ACTION
It was an evenly balanced start at The Stoop in the opening exchanges before the visitors were penalised at the ruck and Harlequins fly-half Nick Evans popped over the penalty for the opening score after eight minutes, 3-0.
Quins lost Ollie Lindsay-Hague and Sam Twomey in the opening half hour, which disrupted their flow and created an edginess from the hosts that produced a poor spectacle for the crowd.
Ross Chisholm, who replaced Lindsay-Hague, almost made an instant impact as he sprints 40m down field to dive over in the corner after 28 minutes. However, following a trip to a TMO it was decided his foot was out of play before he got the ball down, meaning the score remained 3-0 to the home side.
The hosts did though open the try-scoring through the in-form Tim Visser, who touched down his fourth try in five games six minutes later. The Scottish international wing-wizard received a lovely inside ball from Evans before bursting through a number of tackles to dive over. Evans then added the extras to complete the opening 40’s scoring, 10-0.
Scrum-half Care, who was celebrating renewing his contract at Quins, with a dip of the shoulder, raced in for the hosts second try after to edge them clear. Evans superbly converted to give Quins a comfortable advantage, 17-0.
London Irish’s afternoon then went from bad to worse as Visser touched down his second try after 57 minutes. Evans then continued his faultless display from the tee once again with things looking ominous for Tom Coventry’s side.
Visser then thought he had a hat-trick after 68 minutes but was denied following a trip to the TMO. However, two minutes later there was no doubt as the Scotland winger crossed the whitewash once again, securing his treble and Quins try-scoring bonus-point. Evans again converted tremendously, 31-0.
The Exiles then lost Tom Cruse, who was sent to the sin-bin for a late tackle, before Quins replacement Jack Clifford added the fifth try of the afternoon with three minutes remaining.
The visitors, who were poor throughout, did get themselves on the board though with the final play of the game as replacement front row Halani Aulika drived over the line to give them the tiniest of consolations. Theo Brophy-Clews added the conversion to finish the games scoring, 38-7.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Harlequins: Tim Visser
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (c), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 James Horwill, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews. 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ross Chisholm
London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Ashli Tikoirotuma, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Darren Allison, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 David Sisi, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 Matt Symons (c), 3 Ben Franks, 2 Gerard Ellis, 1 Tom Court
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Eoin Sheriff, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Trophy Clews, 23 Sean Maitland
Date: Saturday, December 5
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Ashley Rowden & Simon McConnell
TMO: David Sainsbury