Minutes later, Irish had the opportunity to reduce the deficit, with a penalty for Quins offside. However, Thrower’s kick was both short and wide.

Quins continued to dominate, with Scott Bemand unlucky not to score after Dunne’s kick to the corner. Quins won the resulting line-out (the ball being deflected off an Irish arm), after earlier upsets, and after 25 minutes, Worsely scored his second try. Dunne converted, and Quins extended their lead to 14-0.

Quins were relentless for the rest of the half. Tani Fuga scored after 30 minutes, following calls from an Irish player to “smash him”. Fuga certainly did! Dunne kicked his third conversion, and Quins now led 21-0, which is how the score finished at half-time.

Several changes were made for the start of the second half – Simon Keogh and Bemand swapped places, James Hayter came on for Fuga, and Adrian Jarvis replaced Dunne.

Irish evidently received a stern talking-to at half-time, as they scored 10 minutes into the second half, Topsy Ojo scoring what was to be Irish’s only try of the match. Thrower converted, and the score was 21-7.

The second half saw two more tries from Quins – Keogh scored on the right wing, and replacement Reg Dejager also crossed the line. Jarvis missed both conversions, and to bring Quins’ tally to 31-7.

Overall, some great set pieces, although line-outs were often shaky. Dunne kicked well, and Matt Moore threatened to score near the end, and showed some blistering pace. For our first seconds game, we were impressed by the standard and commitment of all the players, especially the younger members of the squad, who show much promise.

In the bar after the game, we were unable to catch up with Mark Evans. However, Luke Sherriff, Quins’ captain, kindly indulged the “virgin” reporters.

“It was a joy to play with the youngsters who were really keen and didn’t let the pressure get to them. Along with the backs, the experienced pack gave us a platform for the rest of the season.”

Sherriff added that it “was good to win, especially after yesterday,” and that the “Academy are producing the goods.”

We also have a quote from a voice in the crowd:

“For an evening game at this stage of the season, it was competitive all the way through.”

Well done, boys, and good luck for Saturday!

Teams:
Harlequins:
1) Mike Worsley, 2) Tani Fuga (replaced half time by James Hayter), 3) Laurent Gomez, 4) Tom Parker, 5) Roy Winters, 6) Tom Guest, 7) Luke Sherriff (c) (replaced 60 mins by Chris Cracknell, the ‘blond one’ who was replaced just before the end by Gavin Hart), 8) Kai Horstmann, 9) Simon Keogh, 10) Andy Dunne (replaced h/t by Adrian Jarvis), 11) Scott Bemand, 12) Henry Barrett, 13) Andy Reay, 14) Matt Moore, 15) Tom Williams, Reg Dejager came on in the second half

London Irish:
1) Adam Halsey, 2) James Greenwood, 3) Rhys Buckler, 4) Kevin Burke, 5) Nick Kennedy, 6) Paul Gustard, 7) Mike Haslett (c), 8) Richard Thorpe, 9) Kevin Brennan, 10) Neil Whitworth, 11) Delon Armitage, 12) Rob Hoadley, 13) Jason Luff, 14) Topsy Ojo, 15) Ed Thrower
Replacements: 16) James Campbell, 17) David Paice, 18) Gary Johnson, 19) James Docherty, 20) Paddy Gill, 21) Miles Johnson, 22) John Lake, 23) Tom Luke, 24) Ben Ward, 25) James Peckitt

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