Van Poortvliet shines as Leicester dominate Quins

The Prem

Harlequins (0) 7

Tries: Cunningham-South Cons: Smith

Leicester (17) 34

Tries: Hamer-Webb, Van Poortvliet, Steward, Blamire, Perese Cons: Searle 3 Pens: Searle

Jack van Poortvliet delivered a timely reminder to England coach Steve Borthwick as he finalises Six Nations plans with a stunning solo try as Leicester Tigers cruised past struggling Harlequins.

The Tigers scrum-half produced a moment of quality at The Stoop in a match that the visitors dominated from start to finish, his solo effort in the first half the pick of the visitors' five tries.

Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Freddie Steward, Jamie Blamire and Izaia Perese scored the others as the visitors ran roughshod over a Quins outfit with a bonus point win to move into fourth place in the Prem table.

Chandler Cunningham-South ensured that the home side did not suffer a second shutout of the season with a late try to save blushes, but it was nowhere near enough to avoid a fifth straight defeat in the Prem for Jason Gilmore's struggling outfit.

Van Poortvliet was one of the brighter lights in a dominant display and he will be hoping a slight niggle which saw him limp from the field halfway through the second half does not continue his bad luck with England.

The 24-year-old scored the try which won the series against Argentina last summer only for his chances of a place in Borthwick's autumn squad to be spoiled by a shoulder injury.

He also missed out on the 2023 World Cup after hurting his ankle in a warm-up game against Wales the month before the tournament.

Borthwick may well be keeping his fingers crossed, too, after a confident display included an early assist with a long pass to Hamer-Webb, who went over unchallenged for a debut Tigers try.

Yet it was Van Portvliet's kick and collect after a neatly worked short line-out routine that proved a cut above.

After gathering the ball and racing down the right flank he stepped off his right boot to jink inside what was left of the Quins defence before going over.

Quins look to be lacking in confidence as much as anything and had their own chance to level at 7-7 after Cadan Murley broke the Tigers defensive line only for Bryn Bradley to fumble the final pass with the line beckoning.

It appeared to sum up where they are at the moment, certainly on the domestic front where none of their decent European form (they thrashed La Rochelle in the Champions Cup to finish second in their pool) seems to be rubbing off.

From Bradley's mistake things only got worse for the home side with Van Poortvliet's effort, a Billy Searle penalty and a penalised high tackle from winger Nick David ensuring Quins went in 17-0 and a man down at the break.

While the home side held out while David was in the bin, Steward broke through the dual attentions of Sam Riley and Elliot Williams just after the hour to make it 22-0, Searle's boot adding the extras.

Blamire and Perese came off the bench to add to Quins pain with a short range power and long range speed finishes before Cunningham-South's outstretched arm through a sea of limbs at least got them on the scoreboard at the death.

More worrying for Quins management was the fact that a significant number of home fans were not there to see it, having already departed after seeing enough of a side who remain second from bottom on just 10 points after 10 games.

Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore said:

"Our fans have been brilliant. We had a sold-out Stoop today but I can understand their feelings. They are loyal to the team and club. We need to give them something to enjoy on the field.

"It's not skillset, it's mindset. We went on the back foot pretty quickly and couldn't turn things around. We must see to what steps we need to put in place to regain that mindset.

"We need to build a squad which can hold out under fire."

Leicester head coach Geoff Parling told BBC Radio Leicester:

"Twelve of our lads had e.coli when they got back from South Africa last weekend and four of our staff so I didn't let any of those into the training building on Tuesday as we didn't want to infect anybody.

"But the group has proved to be very adaptable and this was a fine win.

"I was a bit frustrated at the end that we let them in for that try but that was a great performance overall. The pack worked hard for each other, it was very windy and conditions were quite hard but I am very pleased with what we did.

"Jack van Poortvliet was excellent today. He's had some injuries which have not helped him at certain times. His speed of delivery is good and he's a top-notch number nine. He showed what he can do with that try, too.

"He came off [with an injury] but hopefully it is just a dead leg. He is going to get it scanned and hopefully it is not too serious.

"The league doesn't lie. We are obviously not at the very top and there are things we can improve on to really push on. But we work hard for each other, look organised and are growing our game gradually."

Harlequins: Green, David, Northmore, Bradley, Murley, Smith, Friday; Kerrod, Walker, Delgado, Treadwell, Petti, Cunningham-South, Kenningham, Dombrandt

Replacements: Riley, Hobson, E Williams, T Williams, Driscoll, Lawday, Green, Evans

Sin bin: David (42 mins)

Leicester: Steward, Hamer-Webb, Wand, Bailey, Hassell-Collins, Searle, van Poortvliet; Smith, Clare, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Ilione

Replacements: Blamire, van der Flier, Hurd, Moro, Cracknell, Allan, O'Connor, Perese

Referee: Adam Leal