Quins kick off new season with a victory

04 September 2011

Harlequins got their season off to an excellent start with a narrow victory against London Irish at Twickenham.

The match opened the much anticipated London Double Header, with Saracens and Wasps beginning their campaign later in the afternoon in front of around 50,000 fans.

Director of Rugby Connor O’Shea named 11 of the 15 players that featured in the Amlin Challenge Cup Final in May, 9 of which are products of the Quins Academy. Tries from Johnston and Monye and a 7 successful kicks out of 7 for fly-half Nick Evans were enough to give Quins the win, in a match that saw Irish take the lead on several occasions. The only knock back was the injury sustained by Tom Guest, who left the field just before half time with a suspected broken arm. Guest’s return to the field comes after a lengthy period out of the game so his injury will come as a disappointment to all. Nevertheless, the win leaves Quins second in the table after their opener, just behind Bath who ran out 22-9 winners over Newcastle.

Speaking to the Harlequins Official Website before the match, O’Shea is optimistic about the season ahead and in over turning what was a disappointing outcome to last season: “It doesn't seem that long ago that last season finished but we are incredibly excited as a group to be back into it again. We felt that we achieved so much as a team last year but were also unhappy with the final outcome in terms of our league position and it is something we want to address.”