Harlequins Overwhelm Newcastle in Premiership Bottom-Two Encounter
Harlequins have amassed a total of 128 points against Newcastle this season, underscoring their dominance in recent encounters.
Tries: Brocklebank, Hodge 2 Conversions: Healy
Tries: Dombrandt, Benson 3, Bradley 2, Murley, Riley, Smith, Hobson, Northmore, Staples Conversions: Smith 10
Harlequins secured a commanding bonus-point victory as they decisively defeated Newcastle Falcons in a contest between the bottom two teams of the Premiership.
With this win, Quins earned five points, narrowing the gap to Gloucester in eighth place—and the final Champions Cup qualification spot—to just four points.
The home side crossed the try line 12 times, including seven tries by halftime, leaving Newcastle unable to mount any effective resistance.
Jamie Benson was the standout performer with a hat-trick of tries, Bryn Bradley scored twice, and single tries were recorded by Alex Dombrandt, Cadan Murley, Sam Riley, Marcus Smith, Will Hobson, Jamie Northmore, and debutant Jimmy Staples.
Newcastle’s defeat leaves them 14 points behind Harlequins and almost certain to finish last in the Premiership for the fourth consecutive season.
The Falcons managed only three tries during the match: one from Adam Brocklebank and a brace from Josh Hodge.
Newcastle is set to welcome 23 new players in the upcoming summer transfer window, and based on this performance, the current season appears to be dragging on for the struggling side.
Match Progression
Newcastle has previously started slowly in their last two home Premiership fixtures against Exeter Chiefs and Bristol Bears, with both matches quickly controlled by their opponents. This pattern continued in this encounter.
Harlequins opened the scoring early with Dombrandt crossing by the posts on their first attacking move. Newcastle was reduced to 14 men after Ben Healy received a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, allowing Benson and Bradley to add further tries.
Newcastle’s prop Brocklebank responded with a try to get his team on the scoreboard, but the respite was short-lived as Murley scored at the corner to secure the bonus point after 24 minutes.
Hooker Riley executed a tap-and-go, evading five tacklers to score, and England fly-half Smith extended the lead with a characteristic side-step try.
Hodge scored after Benson was sin-binned, but the second half unfolded in a similar fashion.
Northmore broke clear from halfway, Benson completed his hat-trick with two tries in three minutes, and Bradley followed immediately with his second try.
By this stage, the match had become open and unstructured, allowing Hodge to capitalize and score his third try since his transfer from Exeter.
The final try was scored by teenage replacement hooker Staples on his Premiership debut, as Harlequins amassed over 50 points away from home for the first time since October 2021.
Team Lineups
Newcastle: Healy; Wade, Hearle, Arnold, Hodge; Connon, Benitez Cruz; Brocklebank, McGuigan (c), Rewcastle, Hodgson, Baker, Gordon, Christie, Parsons.
Replacements: Fletcher, Connor Hancock, McCallum, Clarke, Mafi, Elliott, Beeckmans, Grayson.
Harlequins: Benson; Anderson, Northmore, Bradley, Murley; Smith, Friday; Hobson, Riley, Delgado, J Green, Williams, Cunningham-South, Driscoll, Dombrandt.
Replacements: Staples, Wenger, Streeter, Browne, Kenningham, W Evans, Porter, Kerr.
