Harlequins travelled north up the M6 this Sunday to face one of the two unbeaten sides left in the Gallagher Premiership so far this season, with Sale Sharks the destination.

After seven rounds of action, only Saracens have also kept winning streaks alive since the start of the campaign.

Packed full of muscular forwards and giant England centre Manu Tuilagi, Sale made no secret of their game plan, centred heavily around their physical presence.

An early scare came for Quins in just the third minute, with Marcus Smith and Tommy Allan forced to bundle Sale's Tom Roebuck into touch at the corner flag to prevent an early score.

With a true battle of the breakdown for the following ten minutes seeing both forward packs test each other, Danny Care, ever the talisman for Quins, sparked the opening score. The veteran halfback squeezed through a half gap in the Sale defence before shipping possession on to a sprinting Marcus Smith.

Smith found the wherewithal to poke a cross-field grubber to the right touchline for wing Nick David to scoop up the ball and spin his way over the line. Smith put the cherry on top with a touchline conversion off the inside of the uprights. A perfect start for Quins.

Sale struck back almost immediately, with outside centre Sam James benefitting from swift counterattacking work from the Sharks' outside backs, chipping over the head of the Quins defence before cantering in untouched under the posts to make it seven points apiece with a quarter of an hour gone.

Smith and Rob du Preez exchanged penalties soon after, with Sale dominating possession while Quins displayed gritty determination to prevent Sale from retaking the lead.

With just two minutes left in the first-half and Quins doubled down on their defensive efforts to once again take a seven-point lead. Igniting and claiming the score, Smith sent an inside pass to winger Cadan Murley in midfield, with the recent England call-up bursting through the Sale line before finding centre Joe Marchant.

Possession was recycled rapidly by Care and shipped wide, with Smith the man to scarper through Sale defenders for the score before adding the conversion. The scoreboard read 10-17 in Quins' favour at the break.

Quins' lead bounced between seven to ten points at the start of the second-half as Smith and du Preez exchanged penalties.

With Quins' accuracy and tactics making the eventual difference on the scoreboard, Smith had the final word with his fifth penalty as the travelling side came out 13-29 on top by the time of the final whistle.

An impressive all-round display for Quins as they claimed their first win in Manchester for seven years, adding the cherry on top as the team displayed one final piece of defensive grit to deny Sale a try at the death.

With an on-point kicking game that proved the usually all-out-attacking Quins side is no one-trick pony, Tabai Matson's men finish the weekend up to fifth in the table.

Up next, London Irish at home in front of a sold-out Stoop. Final score, Sale Sharks 13- 29 Harlequins