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C. Murley (7', 40+2'), M. Smith (15', 60'), W. Hobson (31'), S. Riley (49'), W. Evans (65', 77'), J. Staples (69')
Tries
W. Benedittis (21'), E. Benmegal (37', 42')
M. Smith (8', 16', 32', 50', 70', 78')
Conversions
J. Cotarmanac'h (21', 38')
This told us that experience and depth still matter in Europe. With senior backs restored and home routine intact, Harlequins looked like a three-time Challenge Cup winner rediscovering the competition that suits them. Across 80 minutes they stretched a spirited but green RC Vannes until the gaps became chasms.
The selection bump was real. Rodrigo Isgro back on the right edge with captain Cadan Murley and George Furbank behind Marcus Smith gave Quins their familiar strike map: width, footwork, and finishing options on both touchlines. Add the comfort of the Stoop and a club that’s used to navigating this tournament, and you had a Round 1 reset for a side that dropped out of Champions Cup traffic last season.
If there was a hinge, it sat either side of half-time. Vannes had clipped the gap to seven straight after the break, but Quins had already landed a blow with Murley’s finish on the stroke of the interval. From there the game drifted towards one outcome. Vannes couldn’t live with the lineout pressure, gave up too many penalties in their own half, and the Quins bench—especially Will Evans—turned control into scoreboard surge in the last half-hour.
Smith ran it. Two tries and six conversions, but more telling was the tempo he set and the way he put defenders on their heels. Murley’s brace spoke to better detail on the edges—decisive lines, quick reloads—while Isgro’s return mattered in the stuff you feel more than log: he won his meters (85), beat men, and threw the right passes, credited with two try assists. Furbank’s 99 meters on the counter gave Quins exits that turned into entries. The shapes looked familiar again because the pieces were back.
The forwards gave them the stage. With Guido Petti hoovering ball in the air, Quins’ lineout was near-perfect and the cleanest source of front-foot ball on the pitch. That platform underpinned close-range finishes for Sam Riley and Will Hobson, and when Evans arrived the breakdown went up a notch—he found two scores by reading the fringes better than tired defenders. Quins won big despite coughing up 18 turnovers and a needless yellow for Smith; the difference was how often their good ball was clean, repeatable and in the right parts of the field.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Vannes weren’t passengers. The scrum was sound—100% on their own feed—and there was edge in their carrying, with Simione Kuruvoli sharp enough to prise Quins open for two try assists. Enzo Benmegal took his chances well for a double and Wayan de Benedittis finished a tidy sequence to keep the first half honest. They beat 19 defenders and had a go. But the step up shows in the connective tissue: three lineouts lost when they needed territory control; 14 penalties, many in zones that turned into Quins’ corners; 29 missed tackles as the game wore on. That late yellow for Jesse Stegenhuis summed up the fatigue. You can stay in a shootout for 50 minutes; you cannot leak set-piece and discipline and expect to stay there to 80 against this quality.
Individually for Quins, Luke Northmore was direct and busy, Bryn Bradley kept winning the gain line at 12, and Furbank’s composure at the back tightened the screws. Petti was the quiet constant—lineout security often feels unspectacular until you count how often your 10 is playing off clean ball. Evans’ brace from the bench changed the temperature of the breakdown and with it the state of the scoreboard.
The margin doesn’t flatter so much as reflect how a deep side closes. Vannes were within one score early in the second half; Quins then banked their superiority in the contacts and the air, and emptied a bench that extended the gap. The home side still have work-ons—18 turnovers and a soft yellow are not habits to carry into tougher Pool 3 assignments—but they leave Round 1 with a bonus-point, top of the section and a functioning back three around Smith again. That’s a useful reboot before Ospreys.
Vannes leave with proof of concept in parts: a steady scrum, some backs with bite, and a nine who can stress defences. What they take to Edinburgh has to be a better lineout and a cooler penalty count. They’re new to this level; away days are a harsh teacher. The lesson from the Stoop is simple enough—tidy the set piece and the discipline, and the ambition they showed will have a platform worth playing from.
