Joe Cokanasiga pressed his claims for a Six Nations call-up by England as he deflected attention from the battle for No 10 and Bath went top of the table.
Finn Russell won his duel with Marcus Smith on points with the latter’s missed conversion late on costing his side a losing bonus point but Cokanasiga was the main event.
The winger, 6ft 4in and 17 and a half stone, scored two tries that showcased his pace and power and made a case for his reinstatement at Test level after being rejected for the World Cup.
If Bath are a team rejuvenated then Cokanasiga is a player reborn since he was jettisoned by the England head coach, Steve Borthwick, early in the World Cup preparations. The 26-year-old played one World Cup warm-up game before being jettisoned but has taken it in his massive stride and looks a genuine contender for the Six Nations.
Johann van Graan, the Bath head coach, revealed Borthwick has been keeping tabs on his man, who has six tries in his past four games, and said there is more to come.
“He came back very disappointed not to go to the World Cup, being left out after that Welsh Test, and there has been some very good communication from Steve and the England team on what he needed to work on.
“Aerially, he has improved so much and I keep saying to him he is the biggest winger I have ever coached.
“I have been fortunate enough to coach some very good and fast wingers but his size is something he can use so much and he used it tonight. One of the tries he ran over three guys to finish.”
Russell and Smith showed off their skills and even treated the crowd to a bout of pushing and shoving just before Bath’s Miles Reid grabbed the bonus-point try.
Quins grabbed a try in added time from flanker James Chisholm but Smith, who needed to convert from just left of the posts for a losing bonus point drilled it straight into the upright.
“They both had big moments in the game,” said Billy Millard, the Harlequins director of rugby. “Marcus is such a battler, such a competitor and he covers so much ground and he had to do that.”
Russell was the first of the No 10s to open his box of tricks with two minutes on the clock when he pulled Quins wing Louis Lynagh out of position with a delayed pass and sent Ollie Lawrence free. The centre then fed Cokanasiga, who charged over.
It was a case of anything you can do I can do better for Smith who produced a show-stopping solo score two minutes later. He wrongfooted the defence with a dummy and a sidestep from a lineout to waltz through and it was level at 5-5 as both fly-halves missed their conversions.
Bath were denied a try after wing Will Muir broke from his own half, Ben Spencer juggled the ball then held on to it before he was brought down. Centre Max Ojomoh went over but the try was chalked off for a knock-on that had been caused by Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care diving on Spencer from an offside position. Care was shown a yellow card but Bath only got a penalty from Luke Pearce.
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Bath scored the try they thought they had been denied just after the break when lock Elliott Stooke drove over from a lineout and went 15 points up when Cokanasiga broke three tackles, including one of Smith’s, for his second try and sixth in four games.
But Smith’s precise penalty, in driving rain, set up a lineout for the visitors. Hooker Jack Walker was shoved over and Quins were in the game again. But Bath held their pressure and Reid went over from a lineout just after Smith and Russell had been squabbling over the ball in the corner.
