Jarrod Evans seals late Harlequins against Bristol Bears

Jarrod Evans kicked a 79th-minute penalty from 45 metres to give Harlequins a dramatic late Gallagher Premiership victory over Bristol at a rain-sodden Ashton Gate.

A strong second-half performance from Bristol’s pack had overturned an early 13-0 deficit heading into the closing stages.

However, when Quins captain Alex Dombrant was tackled high by Jake Heenan, the Bristol replacement was shown a yellow card and Evans held his nerve to secure the win.

Virimi Vakatawa and Harry Thacker scored Bristol’s tries, with Callum Sheedy adding three penalties and a conversion.

George Hammond scored two tries for Harlequins, with Evans kicking three penalties and two conversions.

Quins had taken an early lead with a penalty from Evans and it was the visitors who looked the more threatening in the opening period.

Neat off-loads from Evans had Dombrandt and Lennox Anyanwu running into space, but the next score still came via another penalty from Evans.

Evans had another opportunity to kick a penalty, but his side opted for an attacking line-out. It proved the correct call by paying immediate dividends as Hammond forced his way over in the 20th minute.

Evans converted and the visitors held a deserved 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Bears had not fired a decent shot during that period, but they won two penalties in quick succession, the second of which Sheedy kicked to bring them on the scoreboard.

Quins suffered a big blow when flanker Will Evans was shown a yellow card for a deliberate off-side, and Sheedy made no mistake with the resulting penalty.

Sheedy was then instrumental in creating Bristol’s first try. From a scrum near half-way, his well-timed pass sent Benhard Janse Van Rensburg through a huge gap in the Quins defence before Vakatawa was provided with an easy run-in.

Sheedy, though, missed the conversion which saw Bristol trailed 13-11 at the interval.

Will Evans returned from the sin-bin in time to see Quins turn down a point-blank penalty, but once again the decision proved sound with Hammond crashing over for his second try in the 44th minute.

Bristol’s response was swift down to the alertness of hooker Thacker. In the opposition 22, Harry Randall fired out a difficult pass, but Thacker kicked the ball forward before beating three defenders to the touchdown.

In the greasy conditions, a couple of dropped balls from Quins’ full-back Nick David put pressure on his side. When the visitors conceded a scrum penalty, Sheedy stepped up to put Bristol in front for the first time just after the hour mark.

Bristol had dominated the final quarter, but Quins refused to give up and broke out of defence to win the crucial penalty.