Seven-try Quins on track for top four

CHRIS ROBSHAW returned to action in impressive fashion to grab a Lions lifeline as Harlequins demolished sorry Newcastle to keep their play-off hopes alive.

The former England captain, fresh from a 12week lay-off due to shoulder surgery, looked like he had never been away as he produced a high-octane display.

Robshaw, 30, carried impressively throughout and played a full 80 minutes as Quins ran in seven tries to chalk up a bonus-point win which could prove vital come the season’s end.

With the Lions squad announced on April 19, Robshaw now has two more games to convince Warren Gatland he should tour New Zealand.

‘Robshaw was outstanding,’ said Quins director of rugby John Kingston.

‘It’s a brave man who would discount Chris Robshaw from the Lions. He’s a wonderful player and his ability to come back in today after three months and put in a performance like that is a reflection of the guy.’

The win sees Kingston’s team move up to sixth in the Aviva Premiership table and with 13 players available for selection following international duty and injuries, their squad is as strong as it has been at any point this season.

Robshaw’s England team-mates Mike Brown, Danny Care and Joe Marler also impressed as Quins outclassed Dean Richards’s men.

‘We gifted them the ball,’ said Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards. ‘It probably was the worst time to face them. Chris Robshaw is a class act.’

Brown and Care were among the try-scorers in one of the most one-sided Premiership games of the season, while fly-half Nick Evans contributed 24 points with the boot.