Smith steers Harlequins to first Premiership win with victory over Saracens
On 25 October 2026 Harlequins beat Saracens at The Stoop in the Premiership London derby to record their first league victory of the season. Marcus Smith scored 11 points and marked his 200th Quins appearance with a try and a try-saving intervention.
Harlequins’ try-scorers were Smith, Seb Driscoll, a penalty try, Cadan Murley and Will Porter; Smith added three conversions. The hosts collected a bonus point before half-time, while Saracens crossed through Rotimi Segun and Theo Dan prior to the interval; two yellow cards for the visitors compounded their challenge. Quins remain bottom of the table but are now one point behind Exeter and Newcastle, with Saracens fifth and five points adrift of early leaders Gloucester.
Smith set the tone inside three minutes, darting through after quick handling on the left flank and converting his own score. Driscoll’s try arrived after 15 minutes following a bulldozing run and quick pass from prop Fin Baxter, who was making his first start in 10 months.
Four minutes after Driscoll, Segun finished in the corner from a Max Malins pass to bring Saracens back into the contest. On 24 minutes a rolling maul was dragged down on the line and a penalty try was awarded, with Ben Earl shown a yellow card.
Saracens thought they had reduced the deficit when Malins went over after Segun kept the ball in play, but Smith stole in from behind to slap the ball away before Malins could ground it. Fergus Burke was sin-binned later for a head-to-head tackle on Rodrigo Isgro as Isgro surged towards the line; within 60 seconds of Burke’s dismissal Murley gathered a long pass on the left and dived into the corner.
Theo Dan touched down with the final play of the half following a rolling maul from Saracens’ line-out. Burke was not permitted to return after failing a head injury assessment and Angus Hall replaced him; Malins moved to fly-half and Saracens made five changes in the pack seven minutes into the second half.
Porter extended Harlequins’ advantage on 55 minutes after pouncing on a Segun drop and powering to the line, with Smith adding the conversion. Nick Tompkins reduced the deficit after a maul on 62 minutes but Hall hooked his conversion attempt wide and Saracens were unable to secure a late bonus point against resilient Quins defence.
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).
The win was Harlequins’ third successive home Premiership victory over Saracens.
