Henry Arundell, Marcus Smith and Bristol injury crisis – Prem talking points

Is this the start of a new sort of unexpected at The Stoop this season?

Eight minutes gone, snappy ball off the top of the line-out, and fly-half Marcus Smith attacks just inside Saracens’ 10m line.

In seasons past, it might have been a twinkle of the toes from Smith or a pop to a bludgeoning run from inside centres Andre Esterhuizen or Lennox Anyanwu.

This time though, Smith punted an old-school up-and-under into the autumnal sun.

Max Malins spilled it, Chandler Cunningham-South seized upon the ball and five phases later Smith himself was plunging over.

In total, Harlequins kicked 32 times for 923 metres, compared to Saracens’ 27 kicks for 678m.

Smith pulled every club out of the bag on his return from British and Irish Lions duty, sliding in some cute grubbers and probing cross-field rakes, along with the high-altitude aerial stuff.

There was plenty to interest new England attack guru Lee Blackett.

“Was it Quins? I’m not sure but it was certainly a different way to win a game,” said Quins’ head coach Jason Gilmore, who had suffered defeats in his opening two Prem games since being elevated to the top job after Danny Wilson’s departure.

“I don’t think it’ll be something you’ll see in our game regularly. We are Harlequins and we want to use the ball and we want to be scoring four tries a game. That’s our DNA.”

In the end, just two tries were enough to give Harlequins a third successive win over their London neighbours in a typically feisty contest.

Saracens back row Ben Earl celebrated his try with two thumbs up to the home fans, while Quins wing Cadan Murley admitted beating a side with Owen Farrell restored was a major motivation for the hosts.

There was plenty of mongrel from Guido Petti on debut. The Argentine was a key part of European champions Bordeaux-Begles last season and, combining with fellow new signing and second row Kieran Treadwell, has given Quins an angrier edge up front.