Sports
Smith stars as Quins beat Saracens for first win
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Published 10/25/2026 12:18:38 PM
The Prem: Harlequins 33-15 Saracens - Marcus Smith stars as Quins pick up first win in derby
Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore:
"Danny Care is the quintessential Harlequin but I think Marcus [Smith] is number two because of the work that he puts in and the care that he's got for the club.
"He's only 27 years old and has played 200 games for us. We're so lucky to have him and we're so proud of him.
"Everyone knows Harlequins – when we're at our best, we can play a really free-flowing style of rugby, but we've got to have grit on the other side of the ball as well.
"If Marcus isn't going to die on plays, then we're in the contest. That was a really big statement against Max Malins that he set for our boys."
On the return of Fin Baxter and a potential England recall:
"I'd certainly back him after the way he came back. He showed his quality right from the get go.
"We'll bang another game into him against a big Exeter pack next weekend. Hopefully we can push him to 50 minutes, 60 minutes then.
"Whether he comes off the bench or starts, that's up to [England head coach] Steve Borthwick.
"We just don't want to be too greedy with Fin because we haven't had him for a while. He came back and played a really strong game.
"We've just got to make sure we don't overload him too much too early because he's such a good player."
Saracens head coach Joe Shaw told TNT Sports:
"You can't afford to come here and make as many errors as we did in the first half, around our roles, understanding what we're trying to do. We were off it, it's really disappointing.
"We prepared well this week, off the back of our performance against Connacht.
"We know that we've got brilliant players in the room and brilliant coaches but you've still got to turn up and perform and we'll look at why that didn't happen."
On the team rotation system being used for the first eight games:
"We believe that if you are good enough to play in training, and you're good enough when you play games, then you deserve to play a role in these early games.
"Then, when it gets to the back end of the season, when things get tough, when people go down [injured], you can just be replaced by the next person in.
"But you've still got to perform in training and games to have a seat at the table so we're going to have to have a good look at that and get ready for next week."
Harlequins: Furbank; Isgro, Northmore, Bradley, Murley (c); Smith, Porter; Baxter, Riley, Streeter, Dun, Treadwell, Kenningham, Driscoll, Schmid.
Replacements: Staples, Hobson, Delgado, Williams, Browne, Evans, Friday, David.
Saracens: Malins; Bracken, Cinti, Tompkins, Segun; Burke, Williams; Carre, Dan, Street, Itoje (c), Martin, Michelow, Onyeama-Christie, Earl.
Replacements: George, O'Driscoll, Clarey, Tizard, Isiekwe, Gonzalez, James, Hall.
Sin-bin: Earl (24 mins), Burke (36 mins)
Referee: Hamish Smales
