Paul Gustard praised two-try hero Nathan Earle after Harlequins secured a thrilling 27-25 Gallagher Premiership victory at Gloucester.

Earle ran in his brace during the first half as Quins came back from 5-0 down to forge an early 12-5 lead.

But it was the kickers who did the most damage to Gloucester, punishing mistakes, as fly-half James Lang kicked two penalties and a conversion and his second-half replacement Marcus Smith added nine more points. Smith booted a 77th-minute match-winning penalty.

Gloucester number 10 Danny Cipriani scored a try and kicked two penalties, as well as converting both tries from wing Charlie Sharples, but the Cherry and Whites came up short for their second defeat in successive weekends.

It was Harlequins' second victory of the season, after beating Sale Sharks 51-33 at The Stoop on the opening weekend. Since then, they have lost to Northampton, Bath and Bristol, albeit picking up bonus points in each defeat.

Earle signed for Quins from Saracens this summer, and head of rugby Gustard said: "He is a great player. Saracens have got a lot of quality wings, so their loss is our gain. I have known Nathan for a long time. I had nothing to do with his signing at Harlequins but I am delighted to have him here.

"He has been one of our most consistent performers and his work-rate off the ball is a huge development from where he has been four or five years ago when I was coaching at Saracens."

Gustard added: "We have got six points away from home now which is a step up from where Quins have been in previous seasons and shows we are a fighting team. Sometimes our attacks are toothless and we look vulnerable in defence but we will continue to improve and be a better team for today."

It was a hard defeat to take for Gloucester director of rugby Johan Ackermann, however, and he was not happy about the officiating.

Ackermann said: "It is inconsistency to me at the moment which is a bit frustrating and then the involvement of the AR (assistant referees). For 40 minutes, nobody got involved, then the second half they say we are offside. But there is not much you can do about it."

He added: "We lost because we are not good enough at the moment in our skill execution and our decision-making. I don't know how many tries we left out there.

"We need to get better on the training pitch and, on match days, make sure we see and use those opportunities."