McParland hat-trick helps Saints secure big comeback win at Harlequins

Quins had moved into a 19-0 lead at the Twickenham Stoop, but the black, green and gold's class eventually came to the fore after an error-strewn start to the match.

McParland showed his finishing ability with a fine treble, which included special try assists from James Ramm and Sam Graham.

And Saints kept getting stronger and stronger as the match went on, finishing the night by earning a penalty try from a scrum.

It meant the black, green and gold bagged another bonus-point success in their pursuit of a place in the semi-finals of the PREM Rugby Cup.

Saints had gone to the Stoop on the back of a weekend off, and they were hit by an early blow as Quins scored first thanks to excellent ingenuity from scrum-half Max Green, who spotted a gap, flew through it and then placed a perfect kick ahead for Tom Lawday to dive on the ball and score.

Jamie Benson added the extras and the hosts had the lead from their first attack of the match.

Saints were struggling to get their attacking game to click, with a couple of knock-ons and a loose passes preventing them from doing any damage.

The away side were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes as Luke Green was sin-binned after his elbow made glancing contact with the head of Quins loosehead Ethan Clarke during a clear-out.

Clarke was stretchered off, and Quins tried to take advantage of having an extra man, immediately booting the penalty into Saints territory.

The black, green and gold held out and soon went on another attack of their own, but Ramm's final pass to Ollie Sleightholme didn't go to hand and another chance was gone.

Saints kept piling on the pressure, but Quins resisted well, winning a turnover well inside their own 22 to take some of the heat off.

Quins then landed another sucker punch as Saints overthrew a lineout inside their own 22, allowing the hosts to work the ball for prop Luke Yendle to power over.

Benson converted again, and Quins had scored two tries from two attacks.

The home side looked hungry to add more points to their tally before Green returned from the sin bin, but a big last-ditch tackle from Ramm stopped them in their tracks.

Quins did have their third try when Cassius Cleaves went over on the left after his side produced a move full of pace and power.

Saints desperately needed to summon a response, and they did just that when Toby Thame and Anthony Belleau combined brilliantly to set McParland away for a timely try.

Belleau converted to cut the gap to 12 points but Saints were on the back foot a few minutes later, needing Green to intervene to claim a big breakdown penalty on his own line.

It meant Saints stayed within touching distance towards the end of the half, and they narrowed the gap further with the final play of the first 40 minutes.

It was a special score from the away side as Ramm showed his class, breaking from well inside his own half before using some power to offload to McParland, who displayed some tidy footwork on his way to the line.

Belleau converted, and Quins had seen a 19-0 lead turn into just a five-point advantage by the break.

Saints took off Tom West and Tom Litchfield at half-time, with the duo having their minutes managed after making their first appearance since suffering injuries back in November.

That meant big opportunities for guest prop Joe Cowell and young centre Freddie St John from the bench.

But rather than Saints maintaining their late first-half momentum early in the second, it was Quins who struck first after the interval, with wing Cameron Anderson going over on the right.

Benson missed the conversion, but Saints would have been ruining the concession of a bonus-point score, with Quins not being made to work hard enough for their tries on the night.

Saints refused to be deterred though, and McParland was at the heart of things again as he handed the ball to Belleau, who showed his power by forcing his way over the line.

Belleau added the extras, and the deficit was down to just three points.

Saints soon kicked a penalty to the corner and Henry Walker peeled off from the maul and tried to get the ball down over the line, but he was held up by Bryn Bradley.

It didn't take much longer for the bonus-point effort to arrive though as Sleightholme gathered the ball and turned on the turbos to deliver a typically strong finish.

Belleau missed the conversion but Saints now led for the first time in the match, with 16 minutes remaining.

Quins thought they had gone back ahead when Jake Murray went over, but the TMO intervened, spotting the replacement scrum-half had been offside when the ball was kicked ahead, meaning it was no try.

Saints sent on highly-rated Under-18s forward Jack Lewis for his senior debut with 10 minutes to go as they sought to put the game to bed.

They looked to have done just that when Graham showed immense strength and some speed too, powering through before releasing to McParland for his hat-trick try.

Guest player Ben Alexander soon won a big penalty at the breakdown, with the hooker getting over the ball to stop Quins in their tracks as they looked for a way back into the game.

Alexander and Cowell had more to celebrate soon after as they helped Saints to produce a huge shove at a five-metre scrum, earning the away side a penalty try.

Saints kept powering forward right up until the final whistle, with Belleau eventually booting the ball out to put the seal on a big comeback success.

Harlequins: 15 Josh Bellamy; 14 Cameron Anderson (Connor Slevin 61), 13 Ludo Kolade, 12 Sean Kerr (Bryn Bradley 51), 11 Cassius Cleaves; 10 Jamie Benson (Cameron Anderson 69), 9 Max Green (Jake Murray 68); 1 Ethan Clarke (Jamie Millar 13), 2 Jack Musk (c) (Jerold Gorleku 73), 3 Luke Yendle (Cameron Doak 58); 4 Harry Browne (Barny Langton-Cryer 68), 5 Jonny Green; 6 Oisín McCormack (Alex Dombrant 51), 7 Tom Lawday, 8 Zach Carr.

Saints: 15 James Ramm; 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Tom Litchfield (Freddie St John 40), 12 Toby Thame, 11 Amena Caqusau (James Martin 66); 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Archie McParland (Aidan Pugh 77); 1 Tom West (Joe Cowell 40), 2 Henry Walker (Ben Alexander 65), 3 Luke Green (Cleopas Kundiona 52); 4 Tom Lockett (c), 5 Chunya Munga; 6 Archie Benson, 7 Charlie Ulcoq (Jack Lewis 70), 8 Fyn Brown (Sam Graham 58).

Referee: Harry Walbaum