Other Harlequins, notably Will Skinner and Nick Easter, Mike Brown and Chris Robshaw, were not far behind in demonstrating their abilities to the England management. 

For a second successive week Quins allowed their opponents to score a try almost immediately.  The first lineout, in the third minute of play, allowed Ulster to rapidly spread the ball wide and create an overlap for Nagusa to run through for the try that O’Connor converted.

Ulster had clearly come for a physical battle and they chased and harried without too much invention and with a lack of discipline that was ultimately to cost them dear. It took only five minutes for a blatant body check on Mike Brown to incense tempers. Malone calmly took the three points to open Quins’ account.

Less than ten minutes later Quins had a penalty inside their own half. Malone found a good touch in the visitors’ twenty-two.  Another penalty followed the lineout and Care’s quickly tapped and went and his pass to Jordan Turner-Hall put the centre in for the try.  Malone’s conversion attempt missed from wide out but Quins took the lead at 8 – 7, a lead they increased but never lost.

Ulster attempted to attack and the game became a midfield battle. A superb up and under and catch by Mike Brown took play into the Ulster half and Quins’ pressure brought further lack of discipline.  This time it also brought a yellow card for the flanker, McCullough.  Quins took the penalty to touch in the corner.  They won the lineout and Care came rapidly round the lineout and put Tom Williams, on the overlap, in to the corner for another try.  Malone missed again with the conversion attempt.  The lead was now 13 – 7 with less than thirty minutes elapsed.

Within five minutes Quins had scored again.  This time Care scored the try as he took the ball from a lineout and was around the end in a flashand on his way to touch down beneath the posts despite the defender hanging onto the tail of his shirt.  Malone added the easy conversion.  Quins were now back on the attack from another good lineout and another tapped penalty supported by the forwards almost took them over for another try, but this time the ball was held up.

As time in the first half was running out, Malone put a short kick through to the in goal area for Monye to run onto.  He was blatantly body-checked and prevented from reaching the ball.  The referee awarded a penalty try that Malone converted.  Yet again Quins had a try bonus before half time.  They led 27 – 7.

Quins were soon on the attack in the second half and the ball was spread wide to Williams on the wing and his kick along the touchline found Mike Brown in support at speed to pick up the ball and cross in the corner for a superb try.  Malone added the conversion and the lead increased to 34 – 7.  Ulster attempted to respond and at a scrum in the Quins’ twenty-two, Care went offside once too often and was banished to the sin-bin. 

With Quins reduced to fourteen men, Ulster scored two tries through Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble which O’Connor converted on each occasion and reduced the lead to 34 – 21.  This might have given the visitors hope.  But then a pinpoint accurate cross-field kick from Malone found Williams who crossed easily for his second try. Once again the extra points were not kicked although Malone did take another three points a few minutes later from a penalty to leave Ulster needing more than three converted tries to win.

Ulster continued to make an effort to counter attack, but their efforts were unimaginative and they could not penetrate the tight Quins’ defence and gradually the game faded away leaving Quins easy winners.

At the press conference following the match, the Ulster coach Matt Williams railed against the injustice of the refereeing to which he rather oddly attributed his team’s loss saying:  “At half-time the count was eight penalties, two free-kicks and a penalty try against us. It's an 8-0 penalty count at half-time. Are you telling me that they did not infringe at the breakdown once in the first half?

"Quins scored two great short-kicking tries in the second half. All credit to them, great skill, but the referee influenced every other Quins score in that first half. The sin-binning was Matt McCullough's frustration coming out.

"We were competing for the ball and not getting the penalties, our scrum-half was getting hit by guys coming across the side and Quins really target the breakdown, very, very smart. But no team can cope with that ocean of possession against you.

"Officiating is just so difficult at this moment but you have to be very careful what you say as a coach. It is just totally inconsistent. "We will put in a report. I don't talk to referees. It's like complaining to your mother-in-law about your wife. It doesn't get you too far."

Asked about the refereeing, Dean Richards view was that "I don't think the refereeing was unfair. I think the referee refereed it as he saw it. There was an exchange of comments between their captain and the referee at half time and in the second half he came out and refereed it slightly differently at the breakdown that changed the game slightly. It became a lot messier after that.”

Asked about Quins’ game plan he went on: “A couple of things we noticed about Ulster before we came into the game was that at times they could be ill-disciplined, that if they turned up here without a disciplined head on they would shoot themselves in the foot."

Asked about Danny Care, Richards said that he would be very surprised if Danny was not the starting scrumhalf in the Autumn internationals.  He though that Gomarsall should be the number two.  He confirmed that David Strettle would have an operation on his foot in the coming week.

HARLEQUINS: M Brown; T Williams, U Monye (T Masson 57min), J Turner-Hall, C Amesbury; C Malone, D Care (A Gomarsall 62min); C Jones, G Botha (T Fuga 62min), M Ross (M Lambert 67min), O Kohn (G Robson 62min), J Evans, C Robshaw, W Skinner , N Easter (T Guest 66min)

ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Nagusa, D Cave, P Wallace (R Dewey 68min), A Trimble; N O’Connor (I Humphreys 62min), C Willis (I Boss 67min); T Court (N Brady 46min), R Best (capt), B Botha, C del Fava (J Fitzpatrick 46min), R Caldwell, M McCullough, D Pollock (K Dawson 52min), R Diack

Referee: T. Hayes (Wales)

Attendance: 12638

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