Saints ship six tries as the home horror show continues against Harlequins

Harlequins, who won in Northampton for the first time since 2012, were the ones inflicting the misery on this occasion, scoring six times on their way to a 49-29 bonus-point victory.

Saints didn't lead the game at any point, being bedazzled by some tidy Quins play in the first period and then enduring more pain in the second.

Chris Boyd's side did bag a bonus point of their own, but that is all they have to show for their efforts after the first two games of the season.

They conceded 32 points at Sale Sharks last Friday, and their defensive struggles were there for all to see again as Quins looked rampant at times.

Danny Care and Marcus Smith pulled the strings for Paul Gustard's side as they bounced back from their 33-3 opening night defeat at home to Exeter Chiefs.

For Saints it was yet more misery in a year that has brought plenty of it.

They have now lost 15 of the past 16 games they have played in all competitions and are searching for answers to so many questions.

They had been buoyed by some aspects of the showing at the AJ Bell Stadium in the season opener, but that unravelled quickly early on against Quins.

Alex Mitchell was forced into action from the off, producing a slide tackle that would be more at home at the PTS Academy Stadium to stop Andre Esterhuizen getting to the ball.

Matt Proctor then won a breakdown penalty to help Saints escape, but he was beaten soon after by Luke Northmore, who charged forward and sent Care in for a simple score.

Smith converted and Saints were behind, having been under the cosh during the opening seven minutes.

But the black, green and gold responded in fine fashion as James Grayson sent Api Ratuniyarawa through a gap and the Fiji lock charged forward before timing a perfect offload for Ludlam to score.

Grayson easily converted to level the scores before Quins looked to have pieced together a stunning score, with prop Wilco Louw powering over.

But the TMO spotted a forward pass from Cadan Murley to Care in the build-up and it was chalked off.

Smith did notch a penalty soon after to put his team back in front and they soon extended their advantage to 10 points with a really slick try.

Nathan Earle and Care combined to finish off a flowing move, and Smith added the extras.

Grayson cut the gap with a penalty almost immediately, but Saints were sinners at the other end, allowing Smith to notch another three points soon after.

And it was the same old story again as Smith struck again from the tee after Quins had done well to salvage a lineout and apply more pressure.

But Saints were able to mount one more attack before the break after winning a scrum penalty close to halfway.

Harry Mallinder's big boot put them in position and, after a sustained period of pressure, the hosts rumbled over, thanks to Nick Isiekwe's power.

Grayson converted and Saints were still in touch at 23-17 down.

But Quins took charge again eight minutes into the second half as two of their old-stagers combined, with Care sending Mike Brown in after a period of pressure on the Saints line.

Smith converted to make it 30-17 and the fly-half was soon using his boot to good effect in open play, kicking ahead for Alex Dombrant, who gathered well and proved too strong as he dived over.

Smith converted to make it 37-17 and it was getting bad for Saints. Really bad.

Saints threw on Rory Hutchinson for Piers Francis in a bid to find a spark, but with the defence so porous it was going to be tough for the attacking players to get a platform.

But Hutchinson did make a quick impact, latching on to Mallinder's neat offload and diving over for a score.

Mallinder converted to cut the gap to 14 points and Saints now needed one more score to at least grab a try bonus point.

And they did just that on 66 minutes after Hutchinson's neat kick put Quins under pressure with a lineout in their own 22.

They threw it away and Ludlam was there to pouch the ball before showing impressive determination to drive his way over the line.

Mallinder missed the conversion to leave the gap at eight points but with Saints starting to gather some hope, they were hit by a sucker punch.

Hutchinson was tackled close to halfway and Quins pounced, with some great work from James Chisholm and Tom Lawday sending replacement scrum-half Scott Steele over.

Smith missed the conversion but Quins had a 13-point lead and Saints' chances of winning the game had been extinguished.

And it was to get worse yet as Smith gathered the ball with one hand and scooted around Ahsee Tuala to score.

The fly-half capped a fine personal performance with the successful conversion to put the seal on a whopping 20-point away win.

Saints: Mallinder; Tuala, Proctor, Francis (Hutchinson 53), Collins; Grayson (Dingwall 56), Mitchell (Taylor 61); Waller (cc) (Auterac 59), Marshall (Fish 59), Hill (Franks 59); Ratuniyarawa (Coles 60), Ribbans; Isiekwe, Ludlam (cc), Wood (Adendorff 56).

Harlequins: Brown; Earle (Marchant 65), Northmore (Lang 59), Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care (Steele 61); Garcia Botta (Els 72), Baldwin (Gray 59), Louw (Kerrod 59); Young, Tizard (Hammond 77); Lawday, Evans, Dombrandt (c) (J Chisholm 59).

Referee: Tom Foley