Saints rally to beat Quins and keep home streak alive

English Premiership champions Northampton fought back after a sluggish first half to beat visiting Harlequins 33-29 on Friday.

In the night's other match Sale also fell behind at home, before recovering to eke out a 31-27 win over Gloucester.

Prop Baxter Walker gave Quins the lead with a try after 80 seconds. England flyhalf Marcus Smith, making his first league start at fullback, scored two tries.

The home side hit back with 21 unanswered points either side of halftime, including two tries from Ollie Sleightholme.

Despite a late Quins try, which Smith converted to take his tally to 21 points, Saints held on for a 17th straight win at Franklin's Gardens.

In Salford, winger Tom Roebuck and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie both celebrated England recalls earlier in the day by scoring two tries for Sale