-
Harlequins held off a late Gloucester fightback to win 28-24
-
The Premiership fixture was played out in front of 77,967 at Twickenham on Tuesday
-
Joe Marchant scored a brace with Jack Clifford also crossing for Quins
Joe Marchant scored two tries as Harlequins narrowly beat Gloucester in front of 77,567 at Twickenham.
The centres first helped Quins to an 11-3 half-time lead with Jack Clifford extended the advantage while Gloucester winger Jonny May was in the sin-bin.
Gareth Evans barged his way over from close range to give Gloucester hope but Marchant added his second try to make it 28-10 in Quins’ favour.
The Cherry and Whites, however, set up a tense finish after James Hook and Motu Matu’u both crossed the whitewash.
Quins then ended the match with 14 men after back-rower Clifford was shown a yellow card and Gloucester pressed for a match-winning try, but they had to be content with a losing bonus point as the home side held on to move into the Premiership’s top six.
These two sides drew 39-39 in the corresponding fixture at Twickenham last season, sharing 10 tries in a genuine classic.
There was drama right to the end, as Nick Evans missed a last-minute drop-goal that would have won it for Quins.