Louis Lynagh stars on comeback as Harlequins beat Newcastle

Louis Lynagh made a successful comeback from knee surgery to celebrate his maiden appearance of the season with a try as Harlequins dispatched Newcastle 48-20.

The England prospect, son of Australia great Michael, had been sidelined for the entire 2022-23 season to date after undergoing two operations but he impressed for the 54 minutes he was on the field at Twickenham Stoop.

Quins were forced to battle hard for a bonus-point victory that lifted them to sixth in the Gallagher Premiership after Freddie Lockwood’s 66th-minute try that was made possible by the genius of Mateo Carreras threatened an upset.

But nerves were steadied when Alex Dombrandt went over for his second try in front of England boss Steve Borthwick, who can only have been pleased by his number eight’s all-action display.

Joe Marchant made his final appearance at The Stoop before joining Stade Francais next season, scoring a popular touchdown but also missing the final conversion from in front of the posts.

For all their dominance of the opening quarter, Quins were unable to register a point, although there were minor wins across the pitch.

Dombrandt and Andre Esterhuizen made telling runs before a scrum penalty ignited a spell of relentless pressure on the home line that saw a Danny Care try ruled out for obstruction by the prone Wilco Louw.

It was the end of Louw’s afternoon and given that he had to be helped from the pitch with what appeared to be a significant injury, he is likely to have played his last game for Quins ahead of his return to South Africa at the end of the season.

The hosts continued to press but The Stoop was stunned into silence when Newcastle scrambled free from their own line, wings Carreras and Adam Radwan combining for the Argentina international to score under the posts.

Brett Connon’s conversion and penalty gave the Falcons a 10-0 lead, but Quins’ attack began to align with Esterhuizen capitalising on a big hole in defence to touch down.

Sensing blood, the two-time Premiership champions renewed the attack in first-half overtime and exploited the blindside with Lyangh scoring with ease in the right corner.

The lead changed hands once more through Connon’s pinpoint kicking but gaps were now appearing in the visiting defence with greater frequency, allowing Marcus Smith to come to the fore.

Quins’ third try was all too easy as extra numbers enabled Josh Bassett to stroll over and once Esterhuizen had bumped off two tackles, the bonus point was secure.

Newcastle were not helped by having Callum Chick sin-binned for collapsing a maul, but with their openside back on the field they found a renewed sense of purpose and camped themselves in enemy territory.

When their try came it started deep in their own half, Carreras’ slaloming run leaving tacklers chasing shadows and while he was stopped just short Lockwood was on hand to finish.

But the uprising ended immediately when Dombrandt showed strength to cross for a second time with late tries from Dino Lamb, Marchant and Fin Baxter distorting the final scoreline.