Quins centre Tom Casson’s fumbled try against London Irish may not be up there with the classic scores, but he will not mind if it proves to be his ticket to more game time.
 

The 22-year-old flopped on to Ugo Monye’s off-load to secure a 31-28 Premiership win at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday to put his side back on top of the table.
 

Casson has battled back to fitness from a torn groin suffered soon after scoring his first top flight try for director of rugby Conor O’Shea’s men in the 30-23 win over London Irish in February.
 

And the former England U20 international, who made his first appearance of this season at the Exiles on Sunday, is just relieved to be playing again.
 

“That was my first 80 minutes of rugby in about six months and I’m just happy to be back playing rugby to be honest,” he said.
 

“It wasn’t the best of tries but it was my first one since the last game against Irish.
 

“I didn’t think I’d scored at first and neither did Mike Brown – who was stood next to me – but when we saw the replay it was a try.
 

“I don’t think it was a case of us getting out of jail. We were dominating up to that point and if I’d taken the ball cleanly no one would have minded. It is now a case of me staying fit and pushing for a regular place.”
 

Casson’s last-gasp intervention came after an Ian Humphries kicking masterclass – coupled with a Guy Armitage try – had put Irish 28-26 up, having eclipsed Quins tries from Danny Care and Tom WIlliams, and 16 points from Ben Botica.
 

Quins host in-form Gloucester on Saturday and Sunday’s match-winner is keen for O’Shea’s men to
impress.
 

“The lads are up for this. The Heineken Cup has given us the step we needed to get back to winning ways in the Premiership,” he said.
 

“They have changed the way they attack, so we have to be aware of that. But we have shown glimpses of getting back to top form so I’m confident we can win.”