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Harlequins overcome Stade Francais 43-21 in the Challenge Cup on Thursday night
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Joe Marler, Joe Marchant, Tim Visser and James Chisholm (2) gave Quins a 33-7 lead at the break
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Visser’s second and a try from Marland Yarde secured the victory for the hosts after the restart
A first-half blitz helped Harlequins to a bonus point victory against Stade Francais to kick off their Europen Rugby Challenge Cup campaign with a flourish at the Twickenham Stoop.
Quins, the three-time winners of the Challenge Cup, were on top from the start and had secured the try-scoring bonus-point before the break thanks to single scores from Joe Marler, Joe Marchant and Tim Visser while RUCK man of the match James Chisholm ran in an outstanding brace.
Fly-half Tim Swiel added four conversions (eight points) to put Quins 33-7 ahead of their French counterparts at half-time.
Stade Francais, led by Italian superstar Sergio Parisse, struggled to keep up with the pace but they were on the scoreboard thanks to a converted try from flanker Sekou Macalou.
Gonzalo Quesada’s side threatened to breach a creaking Quins defence in the second-half before Visser pounced with an interception to increase the Quins buffer.
The visitors did find some consolation with scores from Clement Daguin and Willem Alberts but they came far too late to influence the result, particularly when Marland Yarde’s score took Quins beyond 40 points late on.
Harlequins: James Chisholm
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Alofa Alofa, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 George Merrick, 3 Will Collier, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Joe Marchant
Stade Français: 15 Djibril Camara, 14 Waisea Vuidarvuwalu, 13 Meyer Bosman, 12 Paul Williams, 11 Jérémy Sinzelle, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Clement Daguin, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Raphael Lakafia, 6 Sekou Macalou, 5 Pascal Papé (c), 4 Hugh Pyle, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Zak Taulafo
Replacements: 16 Remi Bonfils, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Giorgi Melikidze, 19 Mathieu De Giovanni, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Arthur Coville, 22 Faraj Fartass, 23 Théo Millet
