For most of this game at a flat-as-a-pancake CorpAcq Stadium, Alex Sanderson looked on helplessly as his Sale side struggled badly and Marcus Smith served up a timely reminder of his attacking brilliance.
That was particularly the case before half-time as Smith – on his first appearance of the season – waved his magic wand and in the process turned Harlequins from the rabble they had resembled in their first two games into a team with demonstrable signs of promise.
The Londoners should have won. After the nadir that was their 48-0 humiliation at Gloucester last weekend, Harlequins went into this game without a point and certainly with one to prove.
They now have two to their name, but it could have been more. No 10 Smith, now recovered from a finger injury, scored twice and could have had a hat-trick. Just before the break, English rugby’s maverick talent was dragged down just short of what would have been his third score and couldn’t get a pass away to Tyrone Green with the line gaping.
Then, Harlequins flanker Jack Kenningham had a try ruled out for a knock on. Both were crucial moments, meaning Harlequins’ lead at half-time was only three points when it should really have been more.
In the second period, despite being far from the side which excelled at Saracens, Sale did just enough to overturn their interval deficit in what was a battle between two sides who, on this evidence, will struggle to make the PREM’s top four.
Marcus Smith was electric on his return scoring twice and could have had a hat-trick
Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore admitted his team did enough to earn victory and that their failure to convert before half-time was crucial. He added: ‘It’s disappointing. If we’d scored then, I felt we would have been pretty comfortable. Marcus is quality.
‘He’s a great player, but he can’t do what he does if the forwards don’t carry really impressively and they did that. We’re not proud of what happened against Gloucester.
‘We understand the criticism. We’re not naïve to it. I knew we’d bounce back.’
Smith has fallen down England’s fly-half pecking order and is now more often seen at full-back internationally. But with his club in desperate need of some impetus, he provided it in spades.
The 27-year-old, his legs caked in Vaseline to avoid tacklers, started like a runaway train. A run into space was followed by a fine pass to Cadan Murley and a key role in his team’s opening score for Sam Riley.
Smith then went over himself, though his try owed much to the sheer genius of George Furbank whose outrageous offload to Luke Northmore gave Smith an easy finish. A second try for the playmaker soon followed. Smith’s presence brought much-needed coherence to Harlequins.
Head coach Jason Gilmore will be disappointed Smith’s efforts did not prevent another loss
And yet it still wasn’t enough. Elia Canakaivata and Gus Warr kept a poor Sale in the contest. The atmosphere generated by a disappointing crowd of just 5,350 was reflected in the performance of the home side. Without the ill Tom Curry, Sale lacked energy and physicality.
Their boss Sanderson spent most of the first period sat on a cool box on the sideline wearing a vacant expression. His team suffered the ignominy early in the second half of being mauled over their own line by a Harlequins pack which is far from the league’s biggest.
The visitors were much better in the contact area than they were at Gloucester. It was, however, impossible for them to be worse. Chandler Cunningham-South stood out with his carrying, allowing Smith and Furbank to play on the front foot.
After a horror start to 2026-27, the combination of Smith and Furbank is one that should give Harlequins’ supporters cause for promise.
Cunningham-South left the field with cramp late on, Gilmore describing him as ‘outstanding’ despite his team suffering a third straight loss. ‘It was the best game I’ve seen from him,’ Gilmore said.
‘He’s a great player when he keeps his head down and focuses on the basics.’ In a search for greater abrasiveness, Sale introduced Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tomas Francis and Ben Curry but they still couldn’t stop Riley’s second.
Despite the loss Quins fans will be hopeful that their side can pick up form after an encouraging display against Sale
Harlequins continue to struggle at the line-out and Sale put the final nail in their coffin with a rolling maul which earned Riley a yellow card and Sanderson’s men a match-winning penalty try.
Ben Bamber had previously kept them in the hunt. Sale’s comeback was far from perfect but meant they have now recorded back-to-back PREM wins for the first time since the end of the 2024-25 season. Their director of rugby Sanderson said: ‘We weren’t at the races from an emotional point of view.
‘But it’s the second week where we’ve found a way to win. That’s really rewarding. I’m really proud of that but we’re still not where we want to be performance wise. We suffered last year, so we’re never going to take a win for granted. We’ve got to find form soon.
‘I’ve got faith and trust we will. We’ve got a good team. We were looking down the barrel at 60 minutes. I was thinking: ‘I know we’re better than this.’
‘We were chasing the game all day.’
