HARLEQUINS and England prop Shaunagh Brown labelled victory on the road at Loughborough Lightning a ‘huge statement win' in maintaining their unbeaten record.
The visitors were made to stave off a fierce fightback by Lightning for their bonus-point win, which keeps them top of the Premier 15s table.
As both teams posed questions of their opponent's defence early on, Quins were able to strike from their reliable lineout with Brown powering over following a strong carry by Jade Konkel.
Another lineout saw Quins extend their advantage as the driving maul again caused the hosts problems, with hooker Amy Cokayne touching down.
Loughborough started to open up with fly-half Helena Rowland pulling the strings and were on the scoreboard after a neat move from the backs put wing Rhona Lloyd over in the corner.
But Quins had the final say before the break from an error at the ruck that Lightning were left to rue, as Brown identified an unguarded route through the middle to score her second try.
The visitors did not have long to wait before the bonus point was secured. Fly-half Emily Scott found touch to set up another lineout- maul from which FiFletcher went over.
Cokayne scored again moments later, but this sparked Lightning into action with some cover defence from Heather Cowell preventing Olivia Jones from dotting down a chipped kick through by Emily Scarratt.
It was not long before Loughborough made the pressure pay, with Lloyd being set free out wide and going over for her second of the game.
Loughborough continued to press, and a series of quick offloads and tidy footwork allowed Scarratt to break through the line and score in the corner.
Just seconds later, in a mirror image of her previous score, another break from England centre Scarratt saw her go over in the corner, to reduce the deficit at 33-24.
Harlequins prop Brown said: “It is a huge statement to come here and win by a decent amount of points.”
