Porter rubs salt in Saints wounds after Harlequins scrum-half Care escapes red card

With Saints 26-20 down and Quins already having suffered their third sin-binning of the day, Care appeared to dive off his feet and kill the ball, but referee Karl Dickson, who had initially appeared to go to his pocket to show the scrum-half a second yellow card, decided only to award a penalty.

Care was replaced immediately after, and the man who came on for him, Will Porter, turned out to be the Harlequins hero as he scored two tries that proved vital in the victory.

Courtney Lawes did manage to salvage a try bonus point that had brought Saints back into losing bonus point territory, but Jarrod Evans landed a penalty with the last kick of the game to take it away.

It meant Saints left Twickenham with just a single point to their name, feeling aggrieved that Quins had managed to play the closing stages of the match with a full complement of players.

However, the hosts deserved praise for the ruthlessness they showed in the game dubbed ‘The Big Summer Kick-Off’ as Quins were clinical from start to finish.

Saints, who will now prepare for next Saturday’s huge Investec Champions Cup semi-final at Leinster, were unable to make the most of their chances, especially as Quins were down to 14 men on three occasions during the match.

Quins had initially got things up and running with a fine try as Marcus Smith landed a pinpoint crossfield kick in the hands of Luke Northmore, who scored with ease.

Marcus Smith missed the conversion and his side were soon down to 14 men as Care was sin-binned for head-on-head contact with Lawes.

Saints won a scrum penalty to set up a charge into the Quins 22, but the home side were holding out well and the black, green and gold were certainly not at their sharpest.

Quins were handed a penalty just before Care returned to the field, but Marcus Smith sent his long-distance effort wide.

And Saints made the home side fly-half pay as they pieced together a lovely counter-attacking move, which saw Tom Litchfield chip ahead and Ollie Sleightholme gather superbly to score.

Fin Smith converted and he soon added a long-range penalty to the tally, but Quins refused to be deterred and they responded by kicking a penalty of their own to the corner.

From the lineout, the home side cut Saints open as Northmore went flying through a gaping hole to score his second.

Marcus Smith converted to make it 12-10, but after Andre Esterhuizen knocked on from the restart, Saints came again.

Louis Lynagh was penalised for a deliberate knock-on as Saints closed in on the home line, earning the wing a yellow card and Saints a penalty, which Fin Smith slotted.

But Harlequins wasted little time in working their way back into Saints territory, and after kicking a penalty to the corner, they pushed on, scoring with 14 men as skipper Stephan Lewies powered over.

Marcus Smith converted and the hosts held a 19-13 lead as Saints really struggled to resist their hosts.

The away side were still looking dangerous on the counter, but they saw a big chance go begging as James Ramm was brought down just short of the line and Sam Matavesi's pass was then knocked on by Sam Graham.

Saints had another chance from another flowing attack soon after, but Lawes was stopped in the same corner as Ramm.

Still though, the away side came, and they celebrated what they thought was their second try on the stroke of half-time as Graham stretched out an arm to get the ball down.

But the TMO and referee decided to review it, feeling Alex Mitchell had knocked on in the build-up.

It appeared a harsh call, and Saints trotted off at the break feeling frustrated.

And salt was rubbed into the wounds six minutes into the second period as Quins kicked to the corner again and easily put together a rapid move that ended with Cadan Murley cruising over.

Marcus Smith made it 26-13 with the conversion, but Saints kept their composure and delivered a fine try, which saw George Furbank find Ramm with an inside pass, and the wing did the rest.

Fin Smith's conversion cut the gap to six points, but Saints suffered a big blow as Sleightholme was forced off for a head injury assessment, and he would not return to the action.

Murley came close to a fifth Quins try but the kick ahead just beat him before the home side were hit by a third yellow card of the day, with Tyrone Green sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on with Saints racing down the right.

A huge moment of controversy came on 62 minutes as Care, on a yellow card, seemed to fly off his feet at the breakdown and kill the ball, but only a penalty was given on review and Care was replaced immediately after as he escaped a red card.

And Care's replacement soon made his mark as Porter dived over in the corner for his first try before finishing off a flowing move to bag his second.

The win now looked beyond Saints, but Lawes at least bagged them a try bonus point.

Fin Smith missed the conversion to leave the gap at six points, and Saints lost the losing bonus point from the final kick of the game as Jarrod Evans landed a penalty to take the Quins victory margin to nine points.

Harlequins: Green; Lynagh, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley (Beard 66); Smith (J Evans 72), Care (Porter 62); Baxter (Marler 55), Walker (Riley 68), Collier (Kerrod 55); Herbst, Lewies (c) (Hammond 68); Cunningham-South, W Evans, Dombrandt.

Saints: Furbank; Ramm, Freeman, Litchfield, Sleightholme (Dingwall 50); F Smith, Mitchell (James 77); Iyogun (Haffar 62), S Matavesi (R Smith 62), Davison (Millar Mills 62); Mayanavanua (Munga 62), Lockett; Lawes, Ludlam (c) (Scott-Young 62), Graham (Augustus 50).

Referee: Karl Dickson