Saracens v Harlequins, Aviva Premiership: as it happened

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SARACENS 42-14 HARLEQUINS

17.24 That just leaves me to wrap things up then. A comprehensive victory for Saracens who were troubled for all of about one minute of this match. Harlequins looked tired and must now be willing the season to end. That's all from me. Thanks for joining. Cheerio.

17.21 With four games to play Saracens now have a cracking chance of making the play-offs, while Harlequins' season looks all but over. That seventh spot (and the play-off for Europe that comes with it) is looking increasingly unlikely.

17.18 Defeat for Exeter at Leicester means this is what Saracens' win does for the Premiership table:

Full time Well Saracens went down to 14 men and scored twice in the final seven minutes. Utterly dominant.

79 min SARACENS 42-14 HARLEQUINS (B Vunipola)

Saracens have the line-out five metres from the Quins line. The catch is successful, the drive is on... and Billy Vunipola is the man to touch down! The Quins forwards were just brushed aside there. Goode kicks the conversion.

76 min So going down to 14 men had absolutely no effect on Saracens it seems. Wyles is announced as man of the match after scoring two tries.

73 min SARACENS 35-14 HARLEQUINS (Wyles)

There's the bonus point try. Stunning footwork from Strettle sees the ball taken out of the air and knocked into the path of Wyles who dives over to beat Yarde and touch down. Absolutely brilliant footwork at full pace tearing down the wing from Strettle.

72 min No. The the ball is turned over and... OI OI FLASHPOINT TIME! The handbags are out after Ashton dumps Hopper, who is not too happy with the tackle and a brief melee ensues. Ashton is shown yellow for his troubles and Saracens will finish this match with 14 men. To be fair to Ashton he did seem to make an effort to put Hopper down but he had already lifted the Quins' centre's legs up and the referee had little choice but to sin bin him.

70 min Here we go. Saracens kick to win a line-out on the five-metre line. Time for the heave?

69 min The centre circle is still very prominent from England's 4-0 football win over Lithuania last night and the vast majority of play in the past 10 minutes has been played inside it. Both sides going nowhere.

67 min This game is petering out horribly.

65 min Here come Saracens again as Wigglesworth kicks through for Ashton to chase and pick up five metres from the try line. The wing is hauled down and the Saracens attack eventually ends after seven phases with Ashton marginally knocking on a neat Hodgson inside pass. Scrum to Harlequins.

64 min The fans have resorted to a Mexican Wave. Speaks volumes about the last five minutes or so.

63 min Prop Biyi Alo comes on for his Premiership debut for Saracens. If you haven't seen him let me tell you this: he is HUGE. Really, really huge.

62 min Collapsed scrums aplenty.

60 min An odd lull has descended over Wembley. Plenty of kicking and not a lot of noise from the record crowd.

59 min Quins going through the phases in the middle of the park here.

Here is Ashton cruising in for his second try of the day:

57 min SARACENS 21-14 HARLEQUINS (Evans)

Right in front of the posts and three more points for Harlequins.

56 min ...Plenty of huge lumps of forward attempt to bulldoze their way through without luck. Yarde is forced back. Robshaw is held up. Monye can make no ground. Great Saracens defence but eventually they are penalised for coming in off their feet and this time Quins elect to go for the posts.

54 min Saracens penalised inside their own 22 and Quins elect to kick for touch rather than go for the posts. Line-out five metres from the Sarries line...

51 min SARACENS 28-11 HARLEQUINS (Ashton)

There's a second try for Ashton and the whole back line is involved. Hodgson collects the ball from the line-out, Bosch sucks his man in and then unleashes Ashton to touch down in the corner. A great one-phase try. Goode converts from a tight angle.

51 min Quins are penalised for standing in the scrum, Hodgson lumps the ball upfield and Saracens have the line-out just inside the Quins half.

50 min Good to see Clifford back up and walking off the pitch. He doesn't look too worse for wear and may well come back shortly I imagine.

49 min "Is it a bad one?" asks referee Wayne Barnes as the doctors work on Clifford. The verdict is that it may be and Barnes blows the whistle to halt play. Clifford just got caught the wrong side of a tackle and appeared to take a hit somewhere around the windpipe.

46 min SARACENS 21-11 HARLEQUINS (Evans)

Burger can't escape from the wrong side of the ruck and Evans kicks three much-needed points from a decent distance.

45 min A scintillating break from Care catches the Quins defence flat-footed. He only has Chisholm to beat, chips the ball over his head and is cynically blocked/runs into the full-back (delete as you see fit). The referee insists it is the latter, Chisholm is not punished and the move ends. Somewhat controversial.

43 min Quins conceded 10 penalties in the opening 40 minutes. You don't need me to tell you that is rather a lot. The opening exchanges of this half are being played out in the middle of the Wembley turf.

41 min Hodgson kicks things off for this second half and there is news of a permanent chance for Saracens with Itoje replacing Hargreaves afer a head injury.

Half time Well, aside from that shock Quins opening try just 25 seconds into the match Saracens have been in complete control of this. It is hard to see any way for Harlequins to work their way back into the match here. Back shortly for the second half.

40 min Stoppage for a blood injury five seconds from time as Care is accidentally headbutted by his own team-mate Marler. Bang! Ouch. Blood.

39 min Billy Vunipola has already racked up nine carries in this half. He's making ground almost at will.

37 min Robshaw is called for giving the referee some backchat for the second time today. Things are not going Quins' way. Saracens win their own lineout from the left, work the ball all the way to the other flank but Monye does well to bundle Ashton into touch.

34 min SARACENS 21-8 HARLEQUINS (Goode)

And another from almost exactly the same spot as Quins are again penalised, this time for not releasing. These penalties are taking the game away from Harlequins here.

32 min SARACENS 18-8 HARLEQUINS (Goode)

Simple for Goode in front of the posts after Matthews is penalised for failing to role away following a good tackle on Vunipola.

31 min The TMO is called into play for the first time today to see if there is foul play thanks a stray Burger arm. The verdict is that contact with Sinckler was accidental and we continue as before.

30 min Quins piling on the pressure here but the Saracens defence stand strong five metres from their own try line. Phase five, phase six, phase seven... and eventually Wayne Barnes's whistle blows to penalise Quins as Johnston forces the turnover. Great defensive work from the Saracens pack.

28 min Well the news of the attendance is in and we have a NEW RECORD for a club rugby match of 84,068. That's a lot of people watching a Premiership match.

27 min Wahey! Referee Wayne Barnes is hauled to the ground as he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. All smiles and plenty of apologies all round.

26 min Monye returns for Quins who are now back to their full complement of players.

23 min SARACENS 15-8 HARLEQUINS (Ashton)

Wow, Ashton knocks a grubber down the line, gives Care a five-yard headstart but turns on the afterburners and blazes past the Quins scrum-half, diving to touch down right in the corner. Sheer pace when he had no right whatsoever to score that. Hodgson then misses a very hard conversion.

22 min Penalty missed! The distance is fine but Hodgs

on pulls his effort slightly and the chance goes wasted.

21 min Robshaw penalised for not releasing and Quins are then moved back a further 10 metres as a foolish player boots the ball away. That puts Hodgson into his range and the Saracens fly-half will try his luck from the resulting penalty.

20 min Quins, down to 14 men, are doing a decent job of running the clock down at the moment.

17 min SARACENS 10-8 HARLEQUINS (Evans)

Saracens penalised bang in front of the posts and Evans makes no mistake.

16 min SARACENS 10-5 HARLEQUINS (Hodgson)

Well within Hodgson's range and the lead is extended.

15 min Sarries have their tails up now. Strettle breaks from deep inside his own 22, runs half the pitch and then dinks the ball behind last man Monye. The Quins wing is horribly isolated up against four Saracens attackers, refuses to let go of the ball and gives away a penalty on the edge of the 22. Moreover, Monye is shown a yellow card for his troubles.

11 min SARACENS 7-5 HARLEQUINS (Wyles)

Too easy for Saracens there. Bosch does well to create an opening, offloads to Ashton who does similarly with Wyles and the centre has very little work to do, touching down between the posts.

10 min A superb Strettle line pierces the Quins defence only for Chisholm to finally halt the Saracens wing at the last attempt.

8 min Sterling work from Billy Vunipola and the Saracens forwards ends with Hodgson lumping the ball high and long only for Chisholm to call the mark.

6 min The home side do indeed win the line-out but Bosch loses the ball in the tackle and the move comes to an end.

5 min Quins have started this match full of beans and could easily have doubled their points tally here only for Yarde to knock-on deep into Saracens territory. Forward come Sarries though and they have a line-out 10 metres from the Quins line.

3 min I'm not sure anyone was quite ready for that. Saracens most certainly weren't and they essentially start this match with a five-point handicap now.

1 min SARACENS 0-5 HARLEQUINS (Clifford)

What a start! De Kock looks to clear his lines deep inside Sarries territory, Clifford charges it down, picks the ball up and dives over in the corner after just 25 seconds!!! Evans misses a tough conversion chance.

15.12 Here we go then. Charlie Hodgson, who this week became the father of twins, leads the new LV= Cup champions out. I should also mention that this is George Robson's 200th Harlequins game. Quite an achievement.

15.06 While the players warm up, the crowd are being treated to the sultry tones of Pixie Lott... who appears to have forgotten her footwear. Why do the normal rules of clothing not apply to "celebrities"?

15.00 You may have noticed that Harlequins are without Mike Brown today who experienced "concussion symptoms" after England's victory over France. They have plenty of England reinforcements without Brown though as Marler, Robshaw and Easter all come straight back into the starting XV.

Conor O'Shea's side have only beaten Saracens once in their last 13 matches against them. They finally halted a run of five successive defeats in all competitions with victory against London Irish last time out but the form guide doesn't make for great reading for fans of today's visitors.

14.54 There is one change to the Saracens team to tell you about as James Johnston replaces Juan Figallo who picked up a late knock. Full updated teams are at the bottom of this blog.

14.50 When Saracens inflicted that thumping defeat on Quins a few months fly-half Charlie Hodgson scored 22 points. The Hodge makes his 100th appearance for the club today so, to celebrate the occasion, here is a video of him on the receiving end of a monster hit from Courtney Lawes.

14.32 Anyway, to the task in hand. Today sees rugby return to Wembley. This fixture last year saw a club record 83,889 people in attendance with the number today set to exceed that.

Saracens come into the match with their sights set firmly on the play-offs. They currently sit third in the table but only two points separate second from fifth. And five teams cannot fill four spots so there is all still to play for.

Quins' stuttering season means the play-offs are a distant dream that, while mathematically still possible, is almost certain not to come true. They are eighth in the table and will be haunted by nightmares of the last time they met Sarries... and lost 39-0 at the Stoop.

14.20 To provide a little bit of context to the photo below I should explain that Saracens warmed up for this match by taking part in a skills challenge with several members of the Arsenal squad. You can read about their experience HERE.

Doesn't sound at all like a publicity stunt organised by one of Arsenal's sponsors to gain some exposure for their company...

14.17 Oh hi there. Look, it's Saracens' Kelly Brown and Arsenal's Per Mertesacker sharing an oddly tender embrace.

12.45 Good afternoon. For one day only rugby union takes centre stage at the 'Home of Football', Wembley Stadium. A record crowd is expected for Sarries v Quins, surpassing the current record for a club match of 83,889 set in the same fixture last year.

Ben Bloom will be here from around 2.30pm with all the pre-match build-up. Here are your teams:

Saracens: Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Wyles, Strettle; Hodgson, de Kock; M Vunipola, George, Johnston, Kruis, Hargreaves (capt), Wray, Burger, B Vunipola.

Replacements: Spurling, Gill, Alo, Itoje, Brown, Wigglesworth, Tompkins, Fercu.

Harlequins: Chisholm; Yarde, Hopper, Sloan, Monye; Evans, Care; Marler (capt), Ward, Sinckler, Matthews, Robson, Clifford, Robshaw, Easter.

Replacements: Buchanan, Lambert, Shields, Talei, Wallace, Dickson, Botica, Walker.