Van Straaten put in shade by Scarborough
Dan Scarborough yesterday stole the show from South African debutant Braam van Straaten as Leeds bounced back from three successive defeats to beat Harlequins 23-18.
The 20-year-old winger scored two blistering tries, sprinting 80 yards each time to clinch a win which lifts Leeds off the foot of the table. Bath, Saracens and Leicester have all fallen at Headingley and after making the early running, Harlequins joined them.
Just three minutes in, England wing Dan Luger had time to scoop up his own fumble before sauntering through the gap to run under the posts for Quins.
But Leeds worked their way back and Van Straaten landed his first three points for the Tykes. Then they surged into the lead with the first of Scarborough's two tries. The winger showed electric pace as he chipped Scott Bemand, outpaced Jamie Williams and touched down his own grubber kick.
Van Straaten added the conversion and then a 40-yard penalty to make it 13-5 on the half-hour. A Burke penalty reduced the arrears but Leeds emerged strong and positive after the break.
From behind his own line, Van Straaten kicked downfield for Scarborough to outpace Luger for a touchdown. The Springbok slotted the penalty to open a 23-11 lead that, despite a late second try from Luger, proved enough for Leeds.
Coach Phil Davies said: 'I've always said I want a team full of stars and that's what we produced today.' But Davies's Harlequins counterpart John Kingston was scathing of his side's display, describing their approach as 'naive'.
Even with the fastest feet in rugby, Jason Robinson is finding it hard to stay one step ahead of the rest. After Sale's 19-19 home draw with London Irish, Robinson said:'It's a mind game. People are aware of what I can do given open space and they're looking at ways to shut me down. London Irish did a good job of that.' Leicester are sitting pretty at the top after a 71st-minute try from winger Steve Booth gave them a 26-19 home win over Bristol.
It maintained an unbeaten home record in the league stretching back four years.
Director of rugby Dean Richards said:'We thought that if we'd lost three or four matches at this stage, we'd have had a satisfactory autumn. To have lost just two has delighted everyone.'
