Following a 17-10 victory for Harlequins over Saracens in the Premiership on Sunday, here’s our five takeaways from the game at the Twickenham Stoop.

The top line

It is fair to say that the hate runs deep between these two London rivals and that resulted in another fierce and intense derby. In a high quality match between two excellent teams, it was very much a case of Harlequins’ defence against Saracens’ attack, but it was the hosts who won out.

Usually, it is the all-singing, all-dancing Quins looking to move the ball and their opponents using their defensive nous to keep them out, but this time it was the other way round. The home side were strong without the ball, even when James Chisholm was yellow carded early on, and then clinical with it.

With pretty much their first attack, the hosts managed to touch down through Fin Baxter – a lead they held until the interval. Although Saracens levelled matters via former Quin Hugh Tizard, the game’s pattern continued with Mark McCall’s men doing most of the running. But they couldn’t take advantage and Lennox Anyanwu’s try, combined with Marcus Smith’s penalty, was enough to seal a priceless Premiership win.

End of a long wait

These two don’t like each other very much but no doubt that ill-feeling goes deeper with Quins, who have come off second best in this rivalry over recent seasons. For four years – and eight matches – they have failed to beat their fellow Londoners, but finally they tasted victory over Saracens.

It is always said that the homegrown stars understand these games more and the rivalry that comes with it, and that was shown in many of the performances. Harlequins’ display was epitomised by the likes of academy graduates Baxter and Jack Kenningham, who were simply tireless up front.

Behind the scrum, Marcus Smith had a few magic touches, especially in the build-up to Quins’ second try, but his best work probably came in defence as he put his body on the line time and time again. There were some superb low tackles from the fly-half, whose passion and determination came to the fore during the 80 minutes.

A case for the defence

Harlequins famously won the 2021 Premiership title despite having one of the worst defences, but the Twickenham Stoop outfit have always known that if they wanted to be consistently successful, they needed a stronger rearguard. It has been their Achilles heel over the years, but the signs have been better at the start of this season.

Although they shipped 33 points against champions Northampton Saints, Quins have been stub𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 without the ball in the other three matches, conceding just 36 points in total from those encounters. They were put under serious pressure by Sarries, who had numerous opportunities inside the 22, but the hosts remained strong.

For the first 62 minutes, Sarries consistently turned down three-point attempts, instead looking for tries, but they only had Tizard’s score to show for their efforts due to Harlequins’ immense defence. It was particularly telling that, after receiving a penalty well outside the 22 just past the hour mark, the visitors went for the posts, which Alex Lozowski subsequently missed.

Horrific injury

We pray that Andy Onyeama-Christie’s injury is not as serious as it looked after the game was halted for 10 minutes early on. The flanker screamed in agony when he burst through a hole and was tackled by a retreating defender. It was a hugely unfortunate incident with the Quins player doing nothing wrong and executing a technically perfect tackle, but he appeared to land on the back-rower’s leg.

It was so bad that the broadcaster decided not to show a replay of the incident, while the medics quite rightly took their time before stretchering him off the field. Onyeama-Christie has enjoyed an outstanding start to the season and we very much hope that the Scotland international is not out of the game for too long.

England watch

There were several Test stars on show and the likes of Smith, Maro Itoje and Ben Earl were unsurprisingly influential. We have already mentioned the contribution of the Quins fly-half, who was excellent in the face of some fierce Sarries carries, but the other two also had good moments.

Earl was prominent with ball in hand, once again making it over the gain line with regularity, while Itoje was a ubiquitous presence on both sides of the ball. National team captain Jamie George was slightly quieter, though, and Theo Dan gave them much more punch when he came on.

However, it is those who are on the fringes of the team that are of more interest. For the hosts, Baxter made his Test debut in New Zealand and the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦-faced powerhouse continues to improve, earning the man of the match award on Sunday. Alongside him in the pack was Kenningham, who could have been involved against the All Blacks had serious injury not hampered his career, but the flanker was excellent at the Stoop, particularly in defence.

In the backline, scorer of the second try Lennox Anyanwu clearly has a lot of talent and a Test call-up might not be too far away, while his centre partner Oscar Beard was involved in the recent England training camp. There was also good impact off the bench with Chandler Cunningham-South, Will Evans and Joe Launchbury all showing up well.

As for Saracens, Tom Willis, who came on for the unfortunate Onyeama-Christie, was once again a standout and on form should make that England 23 for the November series. Equally, Alex Lozowski might not be too far away, given that his playmaking capabilities are similar to the injured Henry Slade, but he was quieter at the Stoop.