Six Try Harlequins Women beat the Bears at Big Game

Harlequins Women saved one of their best performances of the season for Big Game 17 as they secured a bonus point win and stopped Bristol Bears from taking any points back down the M4.

The Girls from South West London scored six tries in a 38-12 win at Allianz Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Harlequins were in a good position after 10 minutes following a lineout, they made their way under the posts on the Bristol tryline but the Bears managed to steal the ball back for a turnover illegally.

Bristol openside Pamphinette Buisa was shown a yellow card and from a quick tap Liana Mikaele-Tu'u scored close to the sticks with a Ella Cromack conversion to make it 7-0.

However, Cromack was then shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle in the Quins 22 in the 16th minute of the game.

Just four minutes later Sarah Bern was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Nicole Wythe, Quins then went up the other end and extended their lead with a nice finish from Lauren Torley in the corner. The conversion from Clàudia Peña was pushed wide.

Ellie Kildunne scored a crowd pleaser when she collected a bouncing ball and scorched through the Bristol defence under the sticks, this time Peña added the extras to make it 19-0 after 24 minutes.

The Bears then hit back with some dancing feet from Millie David in the corner but from a tight angle there was no conversion from Bristol.

Just before the break Quins fought back following a lovely Sarah Parry break down the middle, quick hands then released Peña who had enough pace and power to score in the far corner. Cromack then slotted the touchline conversion to make it 26-5 to Quins heading into the break.

Ruahei Demant began testing Quins with her boot in the second-half and in the 54th minute, after she pinned the West Londoners back with another touch-finder to the corner, an overthrown lineout from the hosts saw Amy Dale dot down and a conversion from Keira Bevan made the scores 26-12.

Following some indiscipline by the Bears in their 22, Freya Aucken burrowed her way over on a nice line from a rolling maul. Peña managed to add the conversion as Quins extended their lead to 33-12 with 13 minutes remaining.

With Bristol pushing hard to clinch two tries for a bonus point, Quins defence remained strong with a crucial turnover under their own posts in the 79th minute. There was still time for some festive joy though as Aucken claimed her second try of the game and the Mighty Quins left Allianz Stadium with a 38-12 victory as they head into a short break in their season.