Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson lamented his side’s defensive woes as they fell to a fourth straight Premiership defeat with a 24-16 loss to Sale Sharks at the Stoop on Sunday.

Tries from Tom O’Flaherty and Robert Du Preez put Sharks in control inside half an hour as Quins failed to spark into life amid rainy conditions in Twickenham. 

Joe Marchant went over just after the break for the hosts, but Akker van der Merwe and Cobus Wiese responded with tries for Sharks to seal the win for the visitors despite Nick David’s late effort. 

Quins have now lost further ground on top two Saracens and Sale Sharks and Matson slammed his side’s inability to adapt to the wet conditions.

“They kicked the ball 22 times in the first half, and it bounced seven times; that’s unacceptable,” said Matson. 

“On a rainy day like that, we should have more backfield coverage. The reason we spent half the game trying to exit was because we did a crap job there.  

“We have to address it otherwise it’s going to continue. You waste time if you’re always trying to get out of your own half. 

“We battled to get out of our territory and at times they scored really easily. We couldn’t get the score board ticking over.”

The defeat leaves Quins just one point ahead of fifth-placed Exeter Chiefs and level on points with Gloucester in fourth, the final play-off berth.

A two-week break for European action now follows, with a trip to Racing 92 followed by the visit of South African side Sharks up next, before a return to league action with a West London derby against London Irish – and Matson knows defeat could see his side tumble down the table. 

“We have spent the last month losing in the Premiership, and we need to take control of that,” added Matson.  

“We are still third but in two weeks’ time it’s going to be like snakes and ladders. If we lose, we could be down to eighth.” 

It is not all doom and gloom for Quins, however, with Matson confirming that talismanic fly-half Marcus Smith is set to return from injury next week after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

“Marcus was scheduled for Europe, so he’ll feature somewhere in the 23,” revealed Matson.  

“There’s a significant cavalry coming over the hill. He was touch and go for this week so next week he’s fully available.  

“You’re always mindful that you don’t rush people back, but he’s trained well the past two weeks so he’s raring to go.” 

Smith’s return from injury is also good news for England ahead of the start of their Six Nations campaign against Scotland on 4 February. 

The 23-year-old will be joined by Harlequins’ attack coach Nick Evans, who has joined up with new England head coach Steve Borthwick on a temporary basis. 

Matson admitted the move was bittersweet for Quins – and that there was always a chance the switch could become permanent – but insisted everyone at the club was delighted for Evans and backed new boss Borthwick to make a positive impact. 

“We’re really excited for him,” said Matson. “When we have been going well and our attack is going well, he’s the mastermind behind it.  

“You always love when people get promoted and he’s been spoken about for a while. It’s fantastic that he gets that opportunity. 

“He’s a critical piece of the puzzle. We’re an attack team and he’s been leading that. He’s a big loss but the fallow weeks and bye weeks that we have, we’ll only miss him for a few weeks.  

“Steve Borthwick has been around a long time, I think he’s in his 40s but he looks like he’s 60! 

"He’s coached a load of Test match rugby and I think he’s going to do a good job.”