Saints held scoreless in second half as they are beaten at Harlequins

The black, green and gold, who shipped 77 points after the break to lose 96-42 at Saracens on the previous weekend, were unable to score a second-half point at the Twickenham Stoop.

Saints had trouble holding onto the ball for much of the match, seeing so many passes fail to go to hand in a scrappy and fragmented encounter.

And Harlequins made them pay, rubbing salt in the wounds late on as the home side scored despite having to play the final 10 minutes with 14 men due to an abundance of injuries depriving them of any further replacements.

It means Saints have now lost both of their opening two PREM Rugby Cup matches this season as they prepare to face one final warm-up for the Gallagher PREM, taking on Georgian side Black Lion in a friendly at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night.

They had headed to Harlequins hoping to bounce back from the loss at Saracens, but Quins, as expected, were tigerish in their approach to the defensive breakdown early on, with skipper Will Evans winning a quick penalty in that area.

Saints had their work cut out to keep possession as Quins continued to try to slow them down at every turn.

At the other end of the field, Cleopas Kundiona did well to get over the ball to win a penalty that relieved some pressure after the hosts fizzed their way into the 22.

However, it was only a temporary reprieve as Quins kept flying forward, winning a series of penalties deep in Saints territory.

And eventually the pressure was made to pay as prop Will Hobson powered over for the home side's opening try.

The conversion was missed and Saints looked like they may respond when Craig Wright went flying through a gap from halfway, but the away backs couldn't work the ball securely and the chance was gone.

Saints did get up and running soon after though as Hugh Shields booted a penalty into the Quins 22 and the away side stayed patient, working the ball from right to left before Tom Pearson turned on the power to score from close range.

Shields slotted the conversion well, giving his side the lead for the first time in the game with the clock ticking towards the 20-minute mark.

Saints were now in the ascendancy, and they extended their lead when Toby Thame picked up a short pass from centre partner Fraser Dingwall and crashed his way over the line.

Shields again converted but Quins had the final say of the first half as Sean Kerr slalomed his way through in tidy fashion to score.

Josh Bellamy converted well from wide on the left and Quins had cut the gap to two points at the end of a largely unflattering first period.

Saints made two changes at the break as Kundiona and Dingwall were replaced by youngsters Sonny Tonga'uiha and Freddie St John.

Saints looked to have given themselves some breathing space when Aiden Ainsworth-Cave produced a fine one-handed finish from Jonny Weimann's long pass, but the officials pulled play back and disallowed the score due to an infringement in the build-up.

The black, green and gold frustration was compounded when Quins scrum-half Stu Townsend spotted some space on the left from the back of a maul and weaved his way infield to put his side in front.

Bellamy missed the conversion to leave the gap at three points with almost half an hour still to play.

Saints were taking some hits, with Thomas Rowe and St John seemingly struggling with injury.

And with St John down receiving treatment, Quins made the most of their extra man, firing the ball to the right, where Cameron Anderson was able to score.

Bellamy again missed the conversion, keeping Saints in contention as the clock hit 61 minutes.

Archie McParland was sent on for Rowe, pushing Weimann to the wing, and the fresh scrum-half tried to make an immediate impact, reaching for the line under the posts, but he knocked on.

Injuries were hitting Quins hard and after they ran out of replacements, they were down to 14 men heading into the final 10 minutes of the match.

But the loss of a man only increased their determination as they held off a Saints surge and held the away side up over the line.

Saints were struggling to get anything to click, with poor passing and handling gifting possession back to Quins on far too many occasions.

And Saints were made to pay in ruthless fashion by Bellamy as he picked up the ball close to halfway and ran through the heart of the away defence, turning on the turbos to pocket an eye-catching try that had the home fans on their feet.

Bellamy, who had endured a difficult day from the tee, made no mistake with the simple conversion and the game was now beyond Saints with four minutes remaining.

The black, green and gold continued to try to get something from the second half, but it wasn't to be as Quins celebrated their second victory in as many cup matches this season.

Harlequins: 15 Nick David; 14 Cameron Anderson, 13 James Lang (Bryn Bradley 14), 12 Sean Kerr, 11 Theo Povey (Sean Sharp 8 (Alfie Bowman 47)), 10 Josh Bellamy, 9 Stu Townsend; 1 Will Hobson (Jamie Miller 51), 2 Jack Musk (Jack Walker 49), 3 Sitiveni Vasuturaga (Osman Dimen 40); 4 Jonny Green, 5 Kieran Treadwell (Harry Browne 49); 6 Jake Spurway (Leo Dickinson 67), 7 Will Evans (c), 8 Lucas Schmid.

Saints: 15 James Pater; 14 Thomas Rowe (Archie McParland 61), 13 Toby Thame, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c) (Freddie St John 40), 11 James Martin (George Hendy 51); 10 Hugh Shields, 9 Jonny Weimann; 1 Jordan Els (Aiden Reid 51), 2 Craig Wright (Henry Walker 45), 3 Cleopas Kundiona (Sonny Tonga'uiha 40); 4 Tom Lockett, 5 Ed Prowse (JJ van der Mescht 51); 6 Aiden Ainsworth-Cave, 7 Tom Pearson (Jack Lewis 69), 8 Josh Taylor.

Referee: Joe James