London Irish too good for Harlequins

London Irish downed Harlequins in the EDF Energy Cup by 17 points to 32 in a match where the Harlequins were outscored by four tries to two.

Harlequins opened the scoring with two early tries from lock George Robson and left wing Charlie Amesbury for a 12-0 advantage after 13 minutes.

The Exiles finally hit back with a five-pointer from Richard Thorpe three minutes before the break as Quins went in for half-time 12-5 up.

The hosts added their third try courtesy of flanker Neil Mcmillan to extend their lead to 17-5.

But Irish had other ideas are fired back two tries from Aussie fullback Peter Hewat and winger Adam Thompstone to level scores at 17-17.

James Bailey thundered over for the Exiles bonus point to for an unexpected 25-17 lead after it had looked like Quins may run away with it.

Hewat claimed his try brace late on as Irish ran out 32-17 winners.

Final Score Harlequins (12) 17 London Irish (5) 32

Harlequins
Tries: Amesbury, Robson
Con: Jewell

Teams

Harlequins: T Williams; Stegmann, Masson, Taione, Amesbury; Luveniyali, G Williams; Croall, Brooker, Lambert, Percival, Robson, Davies, McMillan, Guest.

Replacements: Elosu, Rogers, Evans, York, Care, Barry, Jewell.

London Irish: Hewat; Bailey, Shabbo, Gower, Thompstone; Geraghty, Parker; Dermody (capt), Buckland, Rautenbach, Johnson, Hudson, Danaher, Armitage, Fisher.