Premiership: Gloucester 25-27 Harlequins

Nathan Earle, a summer addition from Saracens, scored both of Harlequins' tries

Marcus Smith kicked three second-half penalties to help Harlequins to a rare Premiership away win at Gloucester.

Danny Cipriani's try gave the Cherry and Whites the lead before Nathan Earle crossed twice for Quins.

Two penalties from Cipriani either side of Charlie Sharples' try put the hosts 18-15 up at the break, but James Lang and Smith kicked Quins 24-18 ahead.

Cipriani converted another Sharples score to edge Gloucester in front but Smith struck late on to secure victory.

Harlequins' victory at Kingsholm was their first on the road in the the league since September 2017, following a run of 11 consecutive defeats away from The Stoop.

It was a hard-fought win for Paul Gustard's men, with the lead changing hands five times over the course of the match.

Earle capitalised on two Gloucester errors to help Quins into a 12-5 lead after Cipriani had crossed following a line break from Italy flanker Jake Polledri.

The hosts came back into it after Matt Symons was sin-binned for offside before the break, with Sharples crossing and Cipriani adding the extras.

James Lang's penalty on the stroke of half-time reduced the arrears and he then levelled things before Smith climbed off the bench to extend their advantage to six points.

Sharples' second touchdown, converted by Cipriani, then put Gloucester 25-24 up with 11 minutes remaining.

Smith saw one penalty from 40 metres out come back off the upright but he made no mistake from the kicking tee with less than two minutes left to register Harlequins' first win since the opening weekend of the season and move them up to fourth in the table.

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Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann:

"It is inconsistent at the moment, which is a bit frustrating, and then the involvement of the AR [assistant referees].

"For 40 minutes nobody got involved, then in the second half they say we are offside. But there is not much you can do about it.

"We lost because we are not good enough in our skill execution and our decision-making. I don't know how many tries we left out there.

"We need to get better on the training pitch and, on match days, make sure we see and use those opportunities."

Harlequins head coach Paul Gustard:

"Nathan [Earle] is a great player. Saracens have got a lot of quality wings, so their loss is our gain. I had nothing to do with his signing but I am delighted to have him here.

"He has been one of our most consistent performers and his work-rate off the ball is a huge development from where he was four or five years ago when I was coaching at Saracens.

"We have got six points away from home now, which is a step up from where Quins have been in previous seasons and shows we are a fighting team.

"Sometimes our attacks are toothless and we look vulnerable in defence but we will continue to improve and be a better team."

Gloucester: Hudson; Sharples, Trinder, Atkinson, Banahan; Cipriani, Vellacott; Hohneck, Hanson, Balmain, Slater (capt), Grobler, Polledri, Ludlow, Morgan.

Replacements: Marais, Seville, Knight, Clarke, Evans, Braley, Twelvetrees, Woodward.

Harlequins: Brown; Earle, Marchant, Tapuai, Visser; Lang, Care; Marler, Crumpton, Sinckler, Symons, Horwill (co-capt), Bothma, Robshaw (co-capt), Chisholm.

Replacements: Ward, Boyce, Collier, South, Kunatani, Mulchrone, Smith, Morris.

Sin-bin: Symons (34).

Referee: JP Doyle.