Harlequins are in Friday night lights action once again as they take on Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium. 

The last time Quins took the trip up to Manchester they fell to a 45-12 defeat, their last defeat following a triumphant end to the season and perfect start to this, but this time there is a different feel at the club after the 52-24 victory over Bristol Bears last week. 

Quins have won their opening three matches, scoring 17 tries in the process, earning a maximum 15 points out of 15, and they have the return of Marcus Smith to the starting XV to shout about. 

Scrum coach Adam Jones said: “It’s great to see Chis (James Chisholm) back fit and starting this week after a bit of an injury-hit start to his season. Marcus was obviously great off the bench last week and Lukey (Luke Northmore) is always a strong performer whenever he pulls on a jersey. 

“We’ve probably started the week with a bit more bounce in our steps off the back of such a great occasion at The Stoop last week, but we turned the focus to Sale this weekend pretty quickly. 

“Sale are a strong team and were obviously semi-finalists last year. They’re a big, heavy, aggressive forward pack with a good set-piece. They can play a bit of ball when they need to, too. 

“It’s a tough place to go as a pack, but we know if we impose ourselves on them, we can challenge them with the way we play, the Harlequins Way.”  

Glasgow Times: Northmore scored Quins' 4th try last weekNorthmore scored Quins' 4th try last week

Quins were 24-7 down at half-time last week, before winning the second-half 45-0, with Smith and fellow replacement Luke Northmore changing the game as Quins wreaked havoc on the Bears defence. 

Northmore has earnt himself a starting place as a result of such a strong performance, he lines up outside Smith and Andre Esterhuizen.

He said: “I’m chuffed to be playing with both of them, they’re both amazing players, you’ve seen what they’ve done over the last couple of years. 

“(I have) obviously been sitting on the bench for the last couple of weeks, but it’s going to be great getting a few more minutes under my belt. 

“They (Sale) are obviously a massive physical pack, and they’re a tough place to go up, I don’t think that we’ve won up there anytime recently, (they’ve) got a big set of forwards and the big fella Manu in the centres so they’re obviously going to look to use him, it’s just about getting our hands on the ball and doing what Quins do. 

“It’s certainly something over the last eight months we’ve tried to reinstall back into our game, it’s something that we hang our hat on quite well and we enjoy doing it, and that’s the reason that we do this every week, it’s because we enjoy it, so I don’t think we’re going to change anytime soon.”