England skipper Owen Farrell is “still learning to be a good captain” but will improve, says head coach Eddie Jones.

Harlequins 37-19 Northampton Herron secures bonus point in match of seven triesIn the end, both teams will have felt slightly disappointed, neither quite able to take control of this remarkable match, featuring seven tries, plenty of them spectacular. But we are quibbling. Harlequins ended up with a bonus point, Brett Herron claiming it with a breakaway try at the death. Having endured the unhappy departure of their director of rugby, Paul Gustard, a few weeks ago, they now find themselves in third, two points behind the champions, Exeter.Northampton have endured their own torment this season but they remain in fifth. They will wonder how they failed to make their pressure tell in the second half – a dearth of fly-halves is not helping – but they contributed handsomely to a match that thrilled, as so many of them are doing these days. Their lack of control detracted from the last half-hour, but the match was never less than breathless – and for 50 minutes it really touched the heights. Related: Exeter thump Bath as England flanker Sam Underhill returns from injury Continue reading…

Harlequins hold off a Northampton fightback to move up to third place in the Premiership with a fifth win in six games.

Following the 40-24 mauling by Wales, the squad left camp for a scheduled break week but the shortcoming of England’s Championship-high penalty count compelled some to ring Jones.

OLIVER HOLT – CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: The BBC’s Sonja McLaughlan is a fine journalist with a talent for asking good post-match questions and not being intimidated by sullen answers.