Harlequins 40-13 Biarritz

Harlequins threw off the shackles in the second half to storm to a 40-13 bonus point victory over Biarritz at the Stoop.

Quins got off to the best possible start as a training ground lineout move worked perfectly after five minutes and Chris Robshaw knocked the ball down to Danny Care, who burst through the French defence and jinked his way to the try-line. Julien Peyrelongue then exchanged penalties with Ben Botica, who had replaced the injured Nick Evans for the home side, and the visitors began to battle their way back into the match. And, despite having Dane Haylett-Petty sinbinned for tackling Tom Williams in the air, Biarritz levelled the scores midway through the first half as they took advantage of an attacking lineout and hooker Arnaud Heguy crashed over to score. Peyrelongue and Botica again exchanged penalties as the half wore on but neither side was able to take control and the scoreline was left finely poised at 13-13 at the break. Harlequins came out reinvigorated and fired up after the interval though and they surged into a 10-point lead courtesy of a short-range try from Rob Buchanan and the conversion and another penalty from Botica. Botica, who has spent time playing rugby in Biarritz in the past, added a further three points as the game moved into its final quarter and Jordan Turner-Hall made the win safe shortly afterwards as he went over in the right-hand corner after a superb initial break from Care had laid the platform. With the match in the bag, the hosts went in search of the bonus point and they got it in the dying stages. A powerful driving lineout from the forwards came up just short of the line and Care delivered quick ball out to Mike Brown and Seb Stegmann, who forced his way over in the corner to wrap up an ideal night for Harlequins.