Joe Marchant believes Harlequins have a lot to work on after slipping to a 40-21 loss away at Leinster.

The defeat in Dublin marked the end of Quins’ pre-season as attention now turns to the trip to Newcastle Falcons for the opening round of the Gallagher Premiership. 

Quins were hampered by a yellow card for Andre Esterhuizen in the first half and couldn’t claw back the advantage despite tries from Luke Northmore, Marchant and Sam Riley. 

Marchant said: “It was obviously tough you can never come here and expect nothing less.

“It was a good blow-out for the boys and obviously we are gutted about the result, but we have got a lot to work on for next week and when that comes hopefully, we will pull it back and put it all on the pitch. 

“We just needed a bit more fight in our defence, getting our spacing right and actually being able to go after them and in our attack just look after the ball.

“When we do it right, we can get some pretty good outcomes but when we force it a bit too much that is when we get a bit too loose. 

“It will just be about now sharpening those little things up, trying to get the offloads that stick and if not hold on to it and just recycle and keep going.” 

The two sides traded tries early on with Northmore crossing in the ninth minute to level things up for Harlequins. 

Esterhuizen was then shown a yellow card for a high tackle and Leinster took full advantage, crossing three times to take a 28-7 lead into half-time 

After a couple of penalties to Leinster, Marchant crossed for Quins’ second of the game to reduce the gap to 19 points, which Riley closed further with his first senior try. 

With the clock ticking down, Leinster made sure of their victory with a try from Liam Turner - having been gifted a loose pass from Nick David.  

Meanwhile, Harlequins Women secured back-to-back bonus-point wins with a 66-31 victory away to Worcester Warriors.

New signing Ellie Kildunne scored a hat-trick as Quins ran in nine tries at Sixways to put Harlequins in second place in the table, behind nemeses Saracens only on points difference.

Hooker Amy Cokayne crossed twice in two minutes to put the game out of reach in the second half before Kildunne wrapped up her hat-trick with Quins’ final score.