Radwan scores hat-trick as Leicester thrash Quins

Adam Radwan scored three tries and had a fourth disallowed in a stellar performance against Harlequins

Gallagher Premiership

Leicester (12) 40

Tries: Radwan 3, Hassell-Collins 2, Liebenberg Cons: Pollard 4, Shillcock

Harlequins (7) 7

Tries: Northmore Cons: Smith

Adam Radwan scored a hat-trick as Leicester's wingers lit up Welford Road in an incident-packed victory over Harlequins.

Ollie Hassell-Collins on the opposite flank scored twice before Hanro Liebenberg added a late sixth try as the Tigers streaked away in the second half and strengthened their push for a home semi-final.

Luke Northmore gave Quins a chance in the last play of the first half as he capitalised on Handre Pollard's loose pass to sprint through and score.

But the visitors had Cameron Anderson sent off for two mistimed tackles, the second of which left the 25-year-old wing needing treatment for a head injury and removed from the pitch on a stretcher, and they were reduced to 13 players when Tyrone Green was sent to the sin-bin.

Quins and England fly-half Marcus Smith played on after injuring his ankle early in the match but was visibly limping when taken off with 14 minutes remaining.

The bonus-point win moved the Tigers back up to second in the table, with Bristol Bears playing at Northampton Saints later on Saturday.

Radwan stars as Tigers lay down marker

Adam Radwan scored three tries and had a fourth disallowed in a stellar performance against Harlequins

Radwan made the move to Leicester from Newcastle Falcons at the turn of the year and quickly endeared himself to the fans with three tries in his first three games.

Against an ailing Harlequins, he, Hassell-Collins and the rest of the backfield took the game away from the visitors.

Joseph Woodward and Freddie Steward combined to find the 27-year-old in space for his first try.

He took full advantage when the visitors were reduced to 13, cutting in past Cadan Murley for his second before having a third ruled out after replays showed the faintest of knock-ons from Woodward, as the ball then hit the corner flag and bounced back into play for Radwan to score.

But he saved the best until last, picking up the ball in the middle before accelerating away from Quins pursuers and skipping past the challenge of Green to claim a stunning hat-trick.

Hassell-Collins was his efficient best on the left, finishing after Jack van Poortvliet had burst through from the back of the scrum and then adding his second when Woodward found him in space with clear turf to run into.

By the time Liebenberg added his side's sixth, Leicester had long since put the result to bed.

Quins punished for costly mistakes

Harlequins struggled to break through Leicester and conceded six tries

This was a day when nothing went right for Harlequins.

Tigers prop Heyes accidently trod on Smith's ankle early in the game, and the England man played the rest of his match with heavy strapping on his leg.

Anderson's first yellow card came halfway through the first half when he collided with Steward after the Leicester full-back had jumped up to collect a high ball.

The away side were made to pay as Hassell-Collins got on the scoresheet just inside the 10 minutes.

Anderson was guilty of the same offence on the same player in the second half except this time the Quins wing took a big hit to the head which appeared to knock him out instantly, with the TMO opting not to show the challenge on the screens.

After a long delay, Anderson was taken off the field to applause from both sets of fans and the red card was confirmed.

Yet Harlequins were reduced to 13 players a minute later as Green was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on in a challenge.

In the end it was a comfortable victory for Leicester that will leave the Twickenham-based side up to 10 points off fourth place with three matches of the season remaining.

Anderson 'OK' after head injury - reaction

Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicestershire:

"Overall from a club point of view [it's] points in our pocket, big full house crowd enjoying the day.

"From a coaching point of view, not as successful as I would have liked. I thought in the first half we were poor, in some areas which were important to our game, and we had to have a discussion about it at half-time.

"And then second half I thought we definitely brought that and that laid the platform for us getting some scores.

"I'm happy for the day and how it turned out but I'd like to see us come out of the blocks with a little bit more as far as the quality we want to bring to games every week."

On Harlequins red and yellow cards: "First and foremost it's good news that young Anderson's OK, I went and saw him as soon as I came off the field because that looked pretty bad, it's certainly not intentional from his point of view, he just got mixed up.

"What I did like was we took some simple opportunities, [rugby] football's not a complicated game sometimes - you've got three on two down that side, go and take that side and execute it.

"We did focus at that time and so you should, you've got that advantage and you want to take it.

"I want us to be better, it's still so tight. Everything's going to count from here on in."

On Adam Radwan: "He's really blended in super quickly. He's loving his footy here and he's really enjoying things, he's a great fella off the field and he's playing well on the field."

Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson said:

"Cam is OK. He's back on his feet but was out for a while. It was a nasty one and he will be out for a period of time."

On Marcus Smith's injury: "It's his ankle. We don't know how bad at the moment but he showed his toughness by digging in as he always does. Unfortunately it got worse and at the end he was struggling to be able to execute and will have a scan.

"It was a bit of a perfect storm, when you are struggling with injuries before the game and you go and get yellows and reds and further injuries it can lead to a scoreboard getting away from you and that is what happened today.

"But we can still mathematically get top four."

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Hatherell

Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Cole, Wells, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Kelly

Harlequins: Green; Anderson, Beard, Northmore, Murley; Smith, Gjaltema; Baxter, Walker, Lamositele, Herbst, Hammond, Cunningham-South, Kenningham, Dombrandt

Replacements: Jibulu, Jones, Lewis, Launchbury, Lawday, W Evans, Murray, Benson

Sin-bin: Anderson [21 mins], Green [45 mins]

Red card: Anderson [44 mins]

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.