For the next 79 minutes Quins' 14 men on the pitch matched Wasps’ 15 and arguably had the upper hand for the majority of the first half.

With Quins’ 7 man pack clearly dominating the scrum, Will Skinner’s strong guidance and Nick Evans directing the show at fly-half, it wasn’t the surprise it should have been when the London team took the lead after 13 minutes. Danny Care danced his way through the Wasps defence before delivering the ball to Nick Evans who sent it sailing beautifully across the pitch and into the safe hands of David Strettle. The winger then stepped inside, offloading the ball to Ugo Monye to score. 0-5

Although Wasps’ new signing Tom Varndell looked ropey at times in defence, he was instrumental in their first try. After a 50 metre break, which saw him stopped just metres from the line, he regained his feet and moments later was in place to receive a delayed pass from Danny Cipriani to score his debut try. 5-5

Quins still refused to let their handicap affect them and put their noses back in front with their second try. Once again the attractive rugby, which is so often associated with the Twickenham side, was on display. Last time it was Evans, this time it was Danny Care who spotted an opportunity with the boot and sent the ball into the hands of Gonzalo Camacho, who crossed the line for his Guinness Premiership debut try. With Nick Evans’s conversion, the boys from Wycombe were 12-5 down.

After a penalty had been awarded to Wasps and Quins had back-chatted their way 10 yards closer to their own try line, Van Gisbergen closed the gap to just 4 points before Nick Evans cancelled it out with a penalty at the other end of the pitch. 8-15. The trade was not complete, however, with another penalty for Wasps. 11-15.

Just before the half time interval Varndell struck again. After stealing Quins’ lineout, the ball was passed through the back line, where Quins found themselves that one man short and could not make up the overlap. Quins desperately tried to deny the winger but he managed to ground the ball. 16-15.

Half Time

The third quarter saw no rewards for either side, although chances went begging. With the clock entering the final 20 minutes Quins found themselves valiantly defending their own line, absorbing wave after wave of a Wasps attack, eventually conceding a penalty for Wasps to go 19-15 up.

Quins’ heroic efforts were beginning to take their toll but still a tired looking defence battled and held off an unerring Wasps attack, only to be scuppered with the referee awarding a penalty try, easily converted by Van Gisbergen. 26-15