Harlequins and Ireland star Anna Caplice got her first taste of club rugby in months last weekend as she returned to the squad after international duty.

She has been in and out of camps for Ireland for the last few months with the Irish squad preparing for the  Six Nations games and the World Cup qualifying event which has now been postponed.

Of her return, she said: "It felt really great. It was a long time coming, especially because there’s been so much training. We’ve been back in pre-season since August but because I spent a lot of time back in Ireland in camps I just didn’t get to play until last Saturday. 

“It was just a great feeling. You can train as hard as you want but nothing replicates that match feeling, especially in the Premier 15s.”

She came off the bench in Quins’ 22-5 victory over Gloucester-Hartpury and said the club were happy to get the bonus-point win to continue their unbeaten streak.

"We were absolutely delighted. You can’t under-estimate any team in this league. They really brought it to us in the first half. Watching from the bench it seemed like such a tough encounter.

“I knew that I had to just step up and come bursting onto the pitch. I hope I achieved that. So yeah we were really happy to come away with the bonus point.”

Table leaders Quins will next play Bristol Bears on Saturday.