Wasps have an injury crisis particularly at centre and persuaded the recently retired Mark Denney out of that retirement to fill a gap. Interest for Quins supporters was the appearance of a number of the recent signings and of Georgian prop Mamouka Magrakvelidze, on trial from Montpellier.

It did not take very long for Harlequins to get into their stride as early pressure took them into the Wasps half and quite suddenly there was David Strettle sprinting through a gap and with great pace crossing for the first try under the posts. The conversion was a simple kick for Danny Care and after two minutes Quins were 0 – 7 in the lead. Wasps tried to respond immediately but the Quins’ defence was good and a break by Aston Croall took play upfield into the Wasps half where Quins had a penalty which allowed Tom Williams to find a good touch deep in the right corner. An attempted catch and drive eventually ended when an attempted reverse pass was dropped and Wasps had the scrum.

A penalty to Wasps took play back into Quins’ half of the field and from the line-out an up and under kick gave Quins possession, but a penalty for offside allowed Cipriani a kick at goal which he duly slotted through to reduce the lead to 3 – 7 after eleven minutes. This encouraged Wasps and Quins came under great pressure particularly in the scrum which was shunted backwards more than once.

Then a fine break by Keogh sliced through the Wasps defence and the scoring pass put Tom Williams in for a try. Care’s conversion attempt just slipped past the left post. Fourteen minutes gone and Harlequins led 3 - 12. Over the next quarter hour play moved back and forth in midfield with a number of aimless kicks to the Quins’ backs which were returned to touch deep in Wasps territory. Then a penalty allowed Cipriani to reduce the lead to 6 – 12 only for Care to open the gap again a few minutes later with a penalty so that Quins led 6 – 15.

Almost immediately a box kick clearance by Care bounced high and awkwardly for the Wasps defenders and fell into Harlequin hands. It was fed out rapidly to Strettle who again sliced through the cover to score his second try which Care converted to increase the lead to 6 – 22. Then a charged down clearance allowed Wasps a line-out on the Quins twenty-two and a penalty for pulling down the jumper allowed Cipriani another successful kick at goal. 9 – 22.

Once again the Harlequin response was immediate and good inter-passing between backs and forwards saw Skinner cross under the posts for the fourth try and secure the bonus point. Once again Care converted and Quins led 9 – 29. This time it was Wasps whose riposte brought a try as James Honeyben suddenly broke and sped down the left wing eluding the defence at score Wasps first try. Cipriani added the points and reduced the lead to 16 – 29. A penalty attempt from 54 metres saw Cipriani’s only miss of the evening and the half ended.
Almost immediately at the start of the second half Wasps mounted a strong attack and benefited from a penalty for offside in front of the posts which allowed Cipriani to reduce the arrears to 19 – 29. Both sides now made replacements but as these made by Quins were mostly not announced they were difficult to follow. Robson had replaced Kohn and Ross had replaced Croall at half-time.

Quins were now back on the attack but they were not able to press their advantage as Wasps were driven back with unforced errors causing the attacks to break down. Turning over possession at the breakdown allowed Quins to push Wasps almost to their line and finally Care squeezed over from close quarters for another try which he also converted to increase the lead to 19 – 36.

Sherriff replaced Skinner and Jewell replaced Strettle and somewhere in the course of the third quarter Masson and Guest replaced Williams and Hala’ufia. Then after fifteen minutes of the half, a deep kick by Duffy saw the Wasps winger, former Harlequin Academy player Mark Odejobi, knock on to give Quins a good attacking scrum inside the Wasps’ twenty-two. A fine break by Guest from the base of the scrum almost crossed the line but then the ball came out to Masson who scored. Care again converted and the lead reached its peak at 19 – 43.

Quins now seemed to lose their focus and stopped working because in the next twelve minutes they allowed Wasps to score three tries and give away 21 points of their 24 point lead. First a three man overlap on their right with the Quins defence pulled across to leave the gap saw Doherty score. Then despite some Quins’ pressure, a loose ball was kicked through down the touchline for Doherty to show his pace and touch down for his second try. Finally, a catch and drive from an attacking line out brought another score. All three were converted by Cipriani.

Fortunately Quins woke up to the dangers of losing. They had already allowed Wasps a try bonus point and doing that two seasons ago had cost Quins a place in the A League final. Despite great Wasps’ pressure in the last seven minutes it was a stunning try, set up by a break by Guest from well inside the Quins’ twenty-two with fine running and support from Mel Deane which after some 80 metres and three excellent passes saw Chris Robshaw touch down under the posts. Care converted with the final kick of the match.

This was an exciting game to watch and a fine start to the A League campaign. Next up are Saracens at Imber Court next Monday evening with the possible added attraction of the debut appearance of Farrell.

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