Wray returns from fractured skull as Saracens battle past Harlequins

Harlequins continued their miserable record on visits to Saracens as they suffered a 19-10 Gallagher Premiership defeat at the StoneX Stadium.

Quins have not won an away fixture against their London rivals since 2012 when they triumphed at Wembley and this defeat was also a third straight loss for the reigning champions, following reverses at the hands of Sale and Bath.

Tom Woolstencroft and Sean Maitland scored tries for Saracens with Alex Lozowski adding three penalties.

Danny Care scored Quins’ try with Tommy Allan adding a penalty and a conversion.

Saracens began strongly to win two early penalties in the opposition 22 but declined kicks at goal in favour of attacking line-outs.

It paid immediate dividends with Woolstencroft crashing over for the first try after only five minutes.

Moments later, they should have had a second when Dom Morris seized on a loose ball to race away but the centre neglected to pass to the unmarked Maitland and went it alone before being tackled by Allan.

Quins had their first chance for points but Andre Esterhuizen’s penalty attempt from halfway went badly astray.

Morris then made another error by conceding a soft penalty to gift the visitors a platform in the home 22, from where Care sniped over with Allan converting.

However, the Quins pack were under considerable pressure in the scrums, conceding penalties at almost every engagement, and it came as no surprise when Saracens regained the lead with a neat round of passing sending Maitland in after 23 minutes.

Harlequins made a change at tight-head with Simon Kerrod replacing Wilco Louw and they drew level with a penalty from Allan to leave the scores tied at 10-10 at the interval.

With the conditions worsening, the opening period of the second half was error-ridden, with both sides struggling to bring any continuity to their play.

It looked inevitable that the next scores would come via penalties and they did when Lozowski was on target with two straightforward kicks in the 49th and 58th minutes.

One of the biggest cheers of the second half was reserved for Saracens favourite Jackson Wray, who came on for his first appearance since fracturing his skull in the game against Northampton six weeks ago.

The crowd had little else to get excited about as the fourth quarter finished scoreless apart from a 79th-minute penalty from Lozowski which deprived Quins of a bonus-point.