Harlequins 16 Bradford Bulls 30: Bulls withstand the heat thanks to Samoa star

Samoa international Patrick Ah Van scored two tries and kicked five goals in scoring 18 points as the Bulls claimed their first win on the road since February and condemned Quins to their sixth straight defeat.

Potter said: “It was too hot to play rugby in a sense – I love how warm it is but it’s not really conducive to playing top-class rugby league and getting the best out of the players.

“We ran until we couldn’t run any more and you could see that both teams were struggling to come up with plays and energy.

“I think we made it hard for ourselves at times but credit to Harlequins, who made us fight for everything.

“With our tackle count and our lacking possession early on in this heat, I’m just happy to come away from here with two points.”

Karl Pryce opened the scoring against his old club after some early pressure from the hosts before Ah Van went over and converted to give the Bulls a lead they would never relinquish.

Shad Royston’s tremendous individual score gave the visitors a 12-4 half-time lead and Ah Van’s second try early in the second half increased their advantage.

Ah Van kicked a penalty and Karl Temata pulled a try back for Harlequins before Luke Gale’s pass gifted Elliott Whitehead an interception score.

Pryce struck again with 12 minutes to go but Bradford were to have the last word as Andy Lynch plunged over from close range.

Despite the result, Harlequins coach Rob Powell felt they were the better side. “We played well in large chunks of the game, but our kicking let us down massively.

“I thought we were the better team overall, but when we had the ball five metres out from their line we kicked it dead four times.

“With Bradford’s players, you’ve got a group of people who are tired and then get the ball back on their 20-metre line when we should be attacking again. We’ve talked about this before that defence becomes an issue if you don’t build pressure well enough – we just let them off the hook.”

Harlequins RL: Riley, O’Callaghan, Clubb, Pryce, Melling, Bailey, Gale, Ward, Randall, Temata, Burnett, Mitchell, Wilkes. Replacements: Krasniqi, Ambler, Ellis, Koupartisas.

Bradford Bulls: Royston, Crookes, Ah Van, Whitehead, Platt, Jeffries, Herbert, Lynch, Diskin, Kopczak, Elima, Olbison, Langley. Replacements: L’Estrange, Addy, Donaldson, Burgess.

Referee: T Alibert (France).