Harlequins went top of the Premiership with a bonus-point victory over winless Newcastle, despite Quins being without a number of England stars.

Jack Walker and George Hammond tries saw Quins take charge, and they resisted all that Falcons offered.

Just five points separate Quins from sixth-placed Saracens.

And with third-placed Exeter hosting second-placed Northampton on Saturday, victory for either of those sides will take them above Tabai Matson's men.

Without Marcus Smith, Danny Care and the injured Joe Marler from the side that won so thrillingly against Gloucester at Twickenham last time out, Quins put their faith in Will Edwards, Will Porter and Fin Baxter to pick up the baton.

Fly-half Edwards was the pick of the three brought in, delivering a superb pass off the hip, with Newcastle players tied up by a scrum, to put David away in the first minute.

Quins found the gain line easier to cross than their hosts, and crucially took their chances.

Esterhuizen's score came with Falcons winger Adam Radwan in the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle on scrum-half Porter who was forced off with a cut to his head after crashing into the boards at the side of the pitch.

Quins took advantage of the extra man with a sparkling shift from right to left which the South African centre finished with raw pace.

They showed another side to their game for both the Walker and Hammond scores, which were brute force rather than guile and skill, but equally effective, and closed the game out without a single point conceded after the break.

Falcons head coach Alex Codling will have rued the lack of detail which punctuated their play, such as an overthrown line-out from five metres out and dropping the ball at the kick-off which presented Quins with their opening score position.

Defensively they showed some mettle, holding their opponents out from a string of phases in their own 22 on a number of occasions.

Their best moments at the other end were limited to fleeting moments of outstanding skill from individuals rather than concerted pressure built as a unit.

The busy Radwan and Iwan Stephens almost combined for a spectacular try in the last play of the first half but the latter was in touch, while Callum Chick failed to pick out one of two supporting players for a near-certain try when he muscled his way through in the second half and Adam Brocklebank fumbled late on likewise.

In the end, effort was not enough for Newcastle, whose losing run extended to 11 games in this season's Premiership.

Quins know their place at the summit might be temporary, but such a convincing result, given the absentees, could be an important one in the context of their season.

Newcastle defence coach Scott Baldwin:

"It's frustrating. We created so many chances, it was just about that finishing touch. It's probably the story of our season.

"We're creating opportunities and just not finishing them.

"I don't think we're a million miles away. I think there's been growth since the first half of the season.

"But we don't want to be a team that's plucky losers, we want a win. I firmly believed turning up today we were going to win the game, as did the players and staff. We've let it slip, which we can't keep doing."

Harlequins director of rugby Billy Millard:

"It was far from perfect but that's a big win and big points for us.

"We had chances to extend our lead in the first half but we didn't convert three or four chances. Our scrum was outstanding, it really gave us an early foothold, and our defence was great.

"There's a long way to go but we'll take it.

"You've just got to keep winning because it's such a tight competition and everyone else keeps winning. It was massive points for us."

Newcastle: Penny; Radwan, Wacokecoke, Holgate, Stephens; Connon, Elliott; Brantingham, Byrne, Bello, De Chaves, McDonald, Rubiolo, Pepper, Chick (c).

Replacements: Van Vuuren, Brocklebank, McCallum, Cardall, Van der Walt, Barton, Johnson, Obatoyinbo.

Sin-bin: Radwan (24)

Harlequins: Green; David, Beard, Esterhuizen, Anderson; Edwards, Porter; Baxter, Walker, Collier, Herbst, Hammond, Chisholm, Evans, Dombrandt (c).

Replacements: Riley, Els, Chawatama, Launchbury, Cunningham-South, Green, Anyanwu, Lynagh.

Referee: Matthew Carley