Six tries for Harlequins in Premiership thriller
SATURDAY WRAP: Harlequins scored six tries in a thrilling 41-32 victory against English Premiership leaders Northampton on Saturday, boosting their play-off hopes with two games left.
Luke Northmore and Will Porter both scored twice, while Stephan Lewies and Caden Murley also crossed.
Northampton's tries came through Ollie Sleightholme, James Ramm, Tom Litchfield and Courtney Lawes
But Danny Care was fortunate to escape a red card shortly after the hour mark after he had already been yellow-carded.
Northampton felt aggrieved when Care appeared to come off his feet at the breakdown to kill the ball but referee Karl Dickson decided it was only a penalty.
Care was replaced immediately and the new man, Porter, delivered two tries to seal victory for the home side in the final 20 minutes.
Lawes salvaged a bonus point for Saints, but they could not leave with a losing bonus point as Jarrod Evans landed a penalty with the final kick of the game.
Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson was pleased to see his side attack at Twickenham.
"It's so tight it's mad," he said. "Every game feels like knockout rugby, so you've got to go and score four tries and get bonus points to give yourselves a chance.
"We've done what we needed to do in front of a big crowd here, which is an amazing experience."
* Magnus Bradbury scored a last-gasp try as Bristol completed a stunning comeback to secure a 21-19 victory at Leicester and take a big step towards qualifying for the play-offs.
The Bears trailed 0-19 at Welford Road with 10 minutes remaining, with Ollie Hassell-Collins scoring two of Leicester's three tries that looked set to keep their flickering top-four hopes alive.
But either side of a red card to Leicester's Mike Brown, Max Lahiff pulled back two scores for Bristol, who then provided one last twist to keep themselves fourth in the table, ahead of Harlequins on points difference.
Harlequins 41-32 Northampton Saints
Scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Northmore 2, Lewies, Murley, Porter 2
Cons: Smith 3, J Evans
Pens: J Evans
For Northampton:
Tries: Sleightholme, Ramm, Litchfield, Lawes
Cons: Smith 3
Pens: Smith 2
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 Stephan Lewies (captain), 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 George Hammond, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Will Porter, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Oscar Beard
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 James Ramm, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Tom Litchfield, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Lewis Ludlam (captain), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Juarno Augustus, 22 Tom James, 23 Fraser Dingwall
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Joe James & Jonathan Healy
TMO: Andrew Jackson
Leicester 19-21 Bristol
Scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Hassell-Collins 2, van Wyk
Cons: Pollard (2)
For Bristol:
Tries: Lahiff 2, Bradbury
Cons: Williams 3
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Mike Brown, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 George Martin, 3 Dan Cole,2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Phil Cokanasiga
Bristol Bears: 15 Max Malins, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall; 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Batley, 4 James Dun, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Virimi Vakatawa, 23 Rich Lane.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace & Simon Harding
TMO: Rowan Kitt