Harlequins 20-14 Saracens result - Marcus Smith kicks Quins to victory on Gallagher PREM return, as Sarries' perfect start ends in London derby

Marcus Smith kicked Harlequins to victory on his Gallagher PREM return, as Saracens' perfect start to the season came to an abrupt end in a London derby. 

Smith opened the points scoring with a try in the first 10 minutes before slotting all his kicks to seal the victory for his side, with Tyrone Green adding the second at the start of the second half.

Saracens suffered their first defeat of the season, despite sensational tries from both Fergus Burke and Ben Earl on either side of the break to keep them in the game. 

Harlequins had possession throughout the majority of the game, keeping the visitors pinned in their half for most of the first 40 minutes. 

Smith demonstrated that he should not be forgotten by England with an impressive kicking performance, which gave Harlequins over double the amount of metres gained than Saracens, as well as scoring their first try on his return. 

Burke responded 20 minutes later with a brilliant break from the line, after Owen Farrell pirouetted and delivered a gorgeous offload for Lucio Cinti, who galloped up the field to offload to the waiting Kiwi. 

Smith was denied a second try by an early ball release from the scrum, but it made no difference as on the return from the break, Green scored another sensational try after gathering a kick from Smith before punting it forward and chasing it down himself. 

After fumbling a corner kick, Farrell made amends with a pinpoint boot to an unmarked Earl, who walked over the try to bring the visitors back into the game. 

Boris Wenger was denied his first try on his debut and to seal the win, but in the end it came down to Smith to close out the match with a penalty to end the match. 

As the scoreline suggests, it was a closely fought derby, but with Harlequins bolstered by their returning international talent, they had a reinvigorated flair to subject the visitors to their third defeat in the derby on the bounce. 

That is a wrap on the Gallagher PREM derby weekend but never fear there is a batch of exciting fixtures coming your way next weekend.

On Friday, Gloucester host Bristol in a bid to get their campaign underway, and at the same time Northampton look to continue their run in the top half of the table as they head up to Newcastle.

On Saturday, Leicester play Bath, hoping to end their run at the top, all before Saracens host Sale at the Stone X.

And then the weekend rounds off as Exeter Chiefs host Harlequins who are now boosted with confidence off their first win of the season.

Consider my appetite whet!

Massive weekend of sport all-round as the WSL was jam-packed full of exciting clashes.

Keira Walsh's strike helped league leaders Chelsea win a London derby against Tottenham, and Manchester United won at the Hill Dickinson Stadium against Everton.

That was not all, though, in this weekend's WSL action. West Ham fell to defeat against London City Lionesses and Aston Villa drew 0-0 with Leicester City, despite a dominant first-half display at Villa Park.

Cadan Murley spoke to TNT Sports after the match as Quins ended their drought.

"I think winning is almost a feeling among the group, and it comes with confidence," he said.

"I think obviously we had the pre-season, which wasn't the ideal start, and then we played the two PREM champs in the first two games, so it was always going to be a tough start. This game was massive for us to try and kick-start that."

He added: "It wasn't the perfect game by any means. We made it hard for ourselves in some bits, but we'll learn and move forward and hopefully bring it into next week, which will be another big challenge away from home."

Harlequins finally got their PREM campaign underway with their first win of the season.

They now leapfrog Gloucester and move into eighth.

It is all change in the standings this weekend, with the derby weekend proving to be a thriller once again.

The third win on the bounce for Quins against Sarries clearly meant a lot to the squad. Watch the moment here!

Marcus Smith spoke to TNT Sports after being named Player of the Match.

"For us as a group, we haven't started the way we wanted to start," Smith said. "But playing against Sarries in front of our friends and family is always special; it was nice to be out there with the boys. Glad we could get the win.

"We see this as a journey; we have a whole season ahead of us. But we are competing as hard as we can, and our aim is to get better each week."

On the win after the death of academy coach Warren Abrahams, Smith said: "It's a special feeling, obviously coming in this morning, I heard the news about Warren Abrahams. He coached a lot of us coming through the academy. This one meant a lot to us."

The third defeat on the bounce against Harlequins meant Saracens' perfect start to the Gallagher PREM came to a bitter end.

It means they have now lost touch with Bath, who are two points clear at the top of the table, with Northampton Saints now in second, as Saracens now sit in third.

That is it! Smith ends it in the manner he conducted himself throughout, with a great kicking game, slotting it between the posts from a penalty advantage off the tee.

Saracens suffer their first defeat in the derby! What a brilliant weekend of rugby!

A potential high shot on Farrell, goes unpunished, but ref and review seem to disagree.

Quins restart with a scrum inside the Saracens’ half.

We're hurtling towards the 80-minute mark and Sarries manage to get themselves out of the danger zone from the scrum as they embark on their own attack.

Potential foul play on Sarries ends the attack.

Over 50 kicks so far this game, as the derby goes aerial. Smith v Farrell go head to head with who has the better boot.

It's be a heavily tactical game for both sides, with kicking being a crucial to get some points in the scoresheet

Wenger is thought to score a try on his debut, as Quins worked through the phases, as Wenger goes from the ruck. He is pushed down before making a second movement. NO TRY!

From the restart, we are already deep into the Sarries half, with Quins making yet another go for the try-line.

Malins launched himself from the attack but was held from the line by Green and Cunningham-South. Farrell gathers the ball and kicks it to the other side. It's pinpoint to Earl, who's completely on his own as he walks it over the line.

Things are spicing up! As Farrell kicks them to within only three points of the leaders.

Sarries send the ball forward, giving Quins a penalty advantage. We go to the scrum.

Quins are pushing Sarries back.
Saracens are un able to find a gap. They are being pushed back further than from the kick.

They get an advantage as an attacker is lifted off his feet.

Burke messes the kick, and it goes backwards. Why did Burke not go for the posts at such close range?

Momentum disrupted as Sarries given an advantage after Petti Pagadizábal doesn't roll away after a tackle.

Controversial decision from Burke to kick the ball to the left-hand side flag.

Isiekwe wins the aerial dual in set piece for Sarries, but possession is lost, before quickly being turned over again as Sarries now enter the host's 22' for the first time this half.