Wood back on form as he helps Quins record victory

Harlequins 17 Leeds 13

The Ireland skipper has only played one game since he aggravated a neck injury away to Russia in September and it was good news for all that the experienced hooker was able to show some form on Saturday.

Wood, who wasn’t due back until after Christmas, replaced Tani Fuga on 59 minutes to help his side record a 17-13 victory.

Harlequins coach and chief executive Mark Evans hailed his side’s performance.

Quins trailed 13-3 at the break but fought back in the second half to claim a 17-13 victory courtesy of a late Ben Gollings try.

Evans said: “It was a matter of pegging it back gradually, which in the end we did.

“We dominated the second quarter but only got three points out of it.

“The key things were not giving penalties away. Another three points and we probably wouldn’t have got back because Braam Van Straaten is such a good kicker from such a distance.

“But we restricted them to long field goals which was difficult in the wet conditions.

“I felt reasonably confident coming down the final stretch. Once we got them at 13-12 I knew there were three to four minutes of injury time to go, and six to seven minutes is hell of a long time in rugby when there is only one score in it.”

Leeds boss Phil Davies was philosophical about the defeat despite his side having victory within their grasp.

He said: “Quins deserved to win no doubt, but we defended tremendously well, but it was disappointing to loose in the dying moment.”

“We now intend to have a mini pre-season and over the next two weeks prepare ourselves for the rest of the season.

“We’ll freshen ourselves up a bit and get our levels up an extra notch for the rest of the season.”

Harlequins scored the winning try in the dying moments.

The try came with Quins camped deep in Leeds territory when replacement back row Ace Tiatia got behind the defence, and the ball was moved quickly left with a long pass from Will Greenwood finding winger Ben Gollings free who dived over unopposed.

The match had started well for Leeds, who took the lead after six minutes through Braam Van Straaten HARLEQUINS: N. Williams, Moore, Greenwood, Bell, Gollings, Burke, Duncombe, Leonard, Fuga, Gomez, Davison, Codling, Vos, Sanderson, Diprose.

Harlequins scorers: Tries: Gollings. Pens: Burke 4.

LEEDS: Scarborough, Stanley, Davies, van Straaten, Emmerson, Ross, Hegarty, Shelley, Regan, Holt, Campbell, Palmer, Mather, Hyde, Fea’unati.

Leeds scorers: Tries: Scarborough. Cons: van Straaten. Pens: van Straaten 2.