- Harlequins 19-27 Bristol
- Bristol blow Quins away in the second half to go second
Bristol climbed to second in the table after recovering from a first-half Christmas hangover to condemn Harlequins to a fifth straight home defeat.
Quins led 9-0 with less than a minute of the first-half remaining having largely traded on Bristol’s willingness to run from their own half despite players operating on different wavelengths. Two of Marcus Smith’s three penalties followed Bristol players being caught in possession within the outside-half’s range and the home side were unfortunate the prop Wilco Louw was denied a try despite claiming to have grounded the ball.