Summary

  • FT: Harlequins 28-24 Gloucester

  • Marchant (2) & Clifford with Quins tries

  • Evans, Hook & Matu'u with Gloucester replies

  • Quins ended match with 14 men

  • 77,567 in attendance at Twickenham

  1. Penalty (Jackson)published at 51 mins

    Harlequins 21-10 Gloucester

    Wing Jonny May comes back onto the field for Gloucester after his spell in the sin-bin.

    But Quins win a penalty from the kick-off and Ruaridh Jackson kicks Harlequins into a 21-10 lead.

    Ruaridh JacksonImage source, Rex Features
  2. try

    Try (Evans, con Laidlaw)published at 49 mins

    Harlequins 18-10 Gloucester

    After a lengthy spell of pressure, Gloucester do have a try!

    It's number eight Gareth Evans, in as last-minute replacement for the unwell Ben Morgan, who dives over from two yards following several Gloucester phases inside the 5m line.

    Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw kicks the conversion to reduce the deficit to 10 points.

    Gareth EvansImage source, Getty Images
  3. No trypublished at 48 mins

    Harlequins 18-3 Gloucester

    And it was indeed slightly offside. James Hook was ahead of the kick when it was played. No score.

    A let-off for Harlequins and, particularly, for Marland Yarde.

  4. Try reviewpublished at 47 mins

    Harlequins 18-3 Gloucester

    Oh no, Marland Yarde, that's a shocker! He drops a simple catch behind the try line... And James Hook pounces to score!

    But was Hook offside? Maybe...

  5. Postpublished at 46 mins

    Harlequins 18-3 Gloucester

    Another three minutes remain until wing Jonny May can return to the field for Gloucester.

  6. Postpublished at 45 mins

    Harlequins 18-3 Gloucester

    ... But they respond now. They're up into the Quins 22.

    However, Jack Clifford is there with a strong tackle to halt the attack.

    Quins eventually clear and win a line-out.

  7. Postpublished at 43 mins

    Harlequins 18-3 Gloucester

    Down to 14 men still, and now 15 points behind, Gloucester are in a slight state of shock.

    Any instructions they received from David Humphreys surely went out the window there.

  8. try

    Try (Clifford, con Jackson)published at 41 mins

    Harlequins 18-3 Gloucester

    What a start to the second half for Quins! 30 seconds after the restart, Jack Clifford crosses for the second try! Danny Care snaffles a loose ball and Clifford is the fastest man out there. He goes over in the corner. Another easy try.

    Ruaridh Jackson adds the extras.  

  9. Kick-offpublished at 41 mins

    Harlequins 11-3 Gloucester

    Harlequins get the second 40 minutes under way.

  10. Could we see nine more tries?published at 17:05 Greenwich Mean Time 27 December 2016

    HT: Harlequins 11-3 Gloucester

    There could well be plenty of action to come in the second half, give the history between these two.

    After all, this fixtures finished 39-39 last season!

    Matching last year's 10 tries from here will be a tall order though...

  11. 15 v 14published at 16:59 Greenwich Mean Time 27 December 2016

    HT: Harlequins 11-3 Gloucester

    The bad news for Gloucester is they'll have to play the first nine-and-a-half minutes of the second half with just 14 men.

    Jonny May's deliberate knock-on was pretty cynical, it has to be said, after a decent carry from Quins' Mike Brown.

  12. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 16:55 Greenwich Mean Time 27 December 2016

    #bbcrugby

    So, Joe Marchant's try is the key difference between the sides at the break.

    What did you make of that first 40 minutes?

    You can let us know via #bbcrugby on Twitter.

  13. Half-timepublished at 16:52 Greenwich Mean Time 27 December 2016

    Harlequins 11-3 Gloucester

    And that's the last act of the first half. Quins are the happier of the two teams as they trudge off down the tunnel.

  14. Penalty (Jackson)published at 40+1 mins

    Harlequins 11-3 Gloucester

    From the resulting penalty, Ruaridh Jackson makes no mistake and gives Quins an 11-3 lead.

  15. Sin-bin (May)published at 40 mins

    Harlequins 8-3 Gloucester

    Gloucester's Jonny May gets a yellow for a deliberate knock-on.

    For a split second, referee JP Doyle accidentally brings out the red card! But says 'sorry' and brings out the expected yellow instead. They all have a little laugh about it.

    Penalty to Quins...

  16. Penalty (Jackson)published at 39 mins

    Harlequins 8-3 Gloucester

    Quins win a penalty from the scrum and Ruaridh Jackson kicks a very simple three points to restore the five-point lead.

  17. Postpublished at 36 mins

    Harlequins 5-3 Gloucester

    The atmosphere has definitely been lifted since the opening try. The ball is currently midway into the Gloucester half, with Quins to put the ball in at a scrum.

  18. Penalty (Laidlaw)published at 33 mins

    Harlequins 5-3 Gloucester

    Greig Laidlaw gets Gloucester on the scoreboard, comfortably kicking through the posts after Quins were penalised on the floor.

  19. What a hit!published at 30 mins

    Harlequins 5-0 Gloucester

    England's Joe Marler crashes into Gloucester's Charlie Sharples and it is an huge hit! Sharples has the wind knocked out of him. Ouch.

    A textbook tackle, though.

  20. try

    Try (Marchant, missed con Jackson)published at 27 mins

    Harlequins 5-0 Gloucester

    Harlequins celebrate scoring the opening tryImage source, Getty Images

    There's the breakthrough! And it is very, very easy for the hosts. Where are the Gloucester defence?

    Danny Care finds Joe Marchant in acres of space and it is a simple, unchallenged finish from about seven metres.

    Ruaridh Jackson's conversion swerves just to the right of the posts.