Irish hold off Harlequins in Premiership Rugby Cup

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London Irish have opened their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign with a victory after edging out Harlequins at The Stoop.

Both sides made wholesale changes to their teams and it was Irish who came racing out of the blocks with three tries in the first 17 minutes from Patrick Harrison, Michael Dykes and Hugh O’Sullivan.

Tyrone Green’s converted try reduced the deficit just before halftime before the Exiles extended their lead through Rory Jennings’ penalty six minutes after the restart.

But Quins hit back with a Will Edwards’ try only for Alex Hames to give Irish some breathing space with a well worked try following a smart offload by debutant Logan Trotter.

Jennings’ kicked the extras and then a penalty to open up a 30-14 lead.

However, the home side set up a grandstand finish when Sam Riley crashed over and Cassius Cleaves broke away to touch down in the corner with Edwards adding the conversion.

But Les Kiss’ side held on to seal the win.