Joe Marler was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on his debut as Harlequins captain but his side survived an undisciplined performance to open their season with a victory over London Irish in a forgettable game at Twickenham.
Harlequins were briefly down to 13 men in the second half when Kyle Sinckler followed Marler into the sin bin and they did not score a point after the interval but they had done enough before it lay the foundations for the win.
Ugo Monye scored a try to put them 10-0 ahead early in the match. The former England wing tweaked his groin but his replacement, Ollie Lindsey-Hague, scored a blistering try within six minutes of coming on.
Topsy Ojo, the veteran London Irish wing, gave Lindsey-Hague a yard of space on the outside and the England sevens player, who possesses some of the quickest feet in the Aviva Premiership, took it and accelerated clear to score.
London Irish failed to break into the Harlequins 22 during the first period and they went into half-time trailing 20-6 but managed to engineer a shift in momentum, aided by Marler’s departure to the sin bin.
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The England prop, who has taken over the captaincy at Harlequins from Chris Robshaw this season, lifted David Paice in a joint tackle with George Robson. Although the exiles’ hooker was cradled down by Robson, the referee, Greg Garner, asked to see footage of the incident and he showed Marler the yellow card.
Shane Geraghty slotted his fourth of five penalty goals before Sinckler was also binned for a high tackle on Paice, briefly reducing them to 13 men. Brian Smith, the London Irish director of rugby, suggested the challenge could have been worthy of a red card.
The exiles pack began to get the edge but Harlequins succeeded in keeping them out to secure the win.
“In the first half we were outstanding,” Conor O’Shea, the Harlequins director of rugby, said. “We could have been miles further ahead. We were comfortably on top and playing the better rugby. In the second half we gave the momentum back through our own indiscipline.
“It was not good enough. We couldn’t get our game back at all. The guys fought their way through that and didn’t concede any tries.”
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Tom Homer, the London Irish full back, suffered knee ligament damage which is expected to rule him out of action for at least a couple of weeks. The club’s medical team will know more on Monday.