The Prem
Harlequins (17) 31
Tries: W Evans 3, Kenningham, T Green Cons: J Evans 3
Bath (14) 47
Tries: Dunn, Sela, Obano, Arundell 2, Griffin, Underhill Cons: Spencer 5, De Glanville
Reigning champions Bath put on a commanding second-half performance to fight back at Harlequins and begin their title defence with a bonus-point win.
The hosts had made a blistering start to the match with flanker Will Evans scoring a hat-trick inside 30 minutes.
Tom Dunn’s reply meant the score was 17-7 when Chandler Cunningham-South was sent to the sin-bin on 33 minutes.
And Bath made the extra player count with tries from Vilikesa Sela and then Beno Obano within two minutes of the restart to take the lead for the first time.
Harlequins lost both hookers Jack Walker and George Turner to injury, meaning the last 26 minutes were played out with uncontested scrums and Bath took full advantage of the imbalance in the Quins pack.
Debutant Henry Arundell scored twice, and Archie Griffin and Sam Underhill also touched down to secure a dominant win, with Jack Kenningham and Tyrone Green crossing the whitewash to earn the home side a bonus point in the second half.
The hosts showed no sign of rustiness at the beginning of the new Prem season, with Evans scoring twice in the opening eight minutes as Harlequins piled early pressure on the reigning champions, finishing off after long runs from Green and Cadan Murley.
Dunn powered over from a Bath line-out to get the visitors on the board before Evans completed his hat-trick, dotting over after Alex Dombrandt had broken through the line.
Cunningham-South went into the sin-bin with Sela scoring from the tap-and-go five metres out.
Bath came out flying in the second half and scored inside two minutes, with Obano finishing after a stunning run from Arundell.
Having replaced Walker at half-time, Turner had to go off after taking a big hit in a passage of play that saw Ollie Lawrence’s try disallowed, with Joe Cokanasiga stepping into touch during the build-up.
The hosts were left with no hookers to call upon and sent on South African prop Jordan Els to see out the game with uncontested scrums.
England back Arundell, playing on the wing in his first appearance, ran into the corner at the end of a flowing team move as Bath took a hold of the game.
Griffin and Underhill came off the bench to add their names to the scoresheet before Arundell got his second of the match, while Kenningham hit back for the hosts and Green scored with the last action of the match.
Harlequins: T Green; David, Beard, Kerr, Murley; J Evans, Porter; Baxter, Walker, Williams, Cunningham-South, Treadwell, Kenningham, W Evans, Dombrandt
Replacements: Turner, Els, Streeter, J Green, Carr, M Green, Kolade, Anderson
Sin-bin: Cunningham-South [33]
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Redpath, Arundell; Ojomoh, Spencer; Obano, Dunn, Sela, Roux, Ewels, Bayliss, Pepper, Reid
Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Griffin, Molony, Hill, Carr-Smith, Harris, Underhill
Referee: Stuart Terheege
