- Newcastle 20-26 Harlequins
- Danny Care and Joe Marchant also score for Harlequins
Harlequins made a winning start to their Premiership title defence as an enthralling game at Kingston Park saw them edge Newcastle 26-20. Both sides played fast, free-flowing rugby but Quins – with Tommy Allan doing his best Marcus Smith impression to pull the strings from No 10 – were able to cross the line four times to Newcastle’s three and head back to London with all five points.
In a high-octane opening, the Falcons No 8 Carl Fearns was denied after being held up over the line and before that, at the other end, André Esterhuizen went over in the corner but his try was disallowed following a forward pass from Dino Lamb.