Harlequins 37 Sale 14

Harlequins continued their excellent start to the new Aviva Premiership season with a comfortable victory over Sale.

Two tries in the first half set Quins on their way and a further brace late in the game re-asserted the hosts' authority and secured a bonus point win. The men from the Stoop started the contest with real confidence and were ahead with less than a minute of the match played. It was Ugo Monye's try that got Quins on their way, when he capitalised on an intense spell of instant pressure created from the kick-off to cross. Nick Evans added the conversion but his side was pegged back by a Danny Cipriani goal on nine minutes. And, when Richie Vernon crossed for an unconverted try despite spirited defensive efforts from George Robson and Tom Williams, Sale had the lead. A shock never appeared to be on the cards though, and, when Evans offloaded to send Jordan Turner-Hall over the line for a converted try on 33 minutes, the advantage was back with Harlequins. The third quarter of the match proved uneventful, with the the two sides trading penalty goals. Three booted efforts from Evans stretched Quins' lead, though Cipriani was able to respond for Sale with a couple of his own to make it 23-14. The Sharks headed into the final stages of the match with a glimmer of hope, but those hopes were shattered by two converted tries in the last ten minutes from the hosts. Robson scored from a Mike Brown break for a try which Evans converted, and Quins rounded things off with another converted score on the final whistle from Brown following a tap penalty.