Pool 3: Harlequins 61-10 Stormers
Quins score nine tries against much-changed opponents
Harlequins back? Or is this latest outrageous twist in the story of their inconsistency a case of same old, same old? First, it needs to be acknowledged that this was a comprehensive dismantling of a side who had not lost a game this season. This was hardly the Stormers’ first team, but an unbeaten squad is an unbeaten squad. God knows, they are beaten now.
The notion that Harlequins are one of the Premiership’s whipping boys was made to look absurd as they strutted the turf of the Stoop with supreme confidence and aplomb. Try after try followed, a hat-trick for Nick David with consecutive tries either side of half-time. But the star performers were legion here. Their eighth try (of nine) on the hour opened up a 54-0 lead. How far away seemed the last few weeks, in which they have conceded nigh-on 150 points in three Premiership matches.
“It’s been a tough few weeks,” said Alex Dombrandt, the Quins captain. “But I’m really proud of how the boys have stuck together, how we’ve had those honest conversations. Everyone at the club wants to push forward. So, to put out a performance like that, I’m really proud.”
