Spending nearly an hour on the Harlequins bench was not the way that Mike Brown, Joe Marler and Nick Easter would have wanted to pass the Friday night before the World Cup quarter-finals.
The England trio could have been preparing for a showdown over the road at Twickenham with either South Africa or Scotland, but they were pressed back into club action at the first opportunity and all contributed to Harlequins opening their Aviva Premiership campaign with a victory.
If it was a chance for the England players to get straight back on the horse, so it was also an opportunity for the rugby-loving public of west London to shake off the disappointment of England’s failed World Cup campaign.
There was a good crowd inside the Twickenham Stoop to watch Adam Jones and James Horwill — both of whom, in other circumstances, could also have been preparing for World Cup quarter-finals this weekend — make their Harlequins debuts.
Horwill brought valuable experience and leadership to the Harlequins second row while Wasps had George Smith, another former Wallaby, in their ranks and he, too, made a strong debut last night.
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Brown and Marler were given the last 26 minutes, sent on when Harlequins were 20-11 up but starting to feel the pressure as Wasps built up a head of steam. Easter soon joined them and between them they helped to douse the visiting team’s fire.
Wasps had started well, taking the lead with a try from Jake Cooper-Woolley, the prop, who had already wasted one chance with a knock-on short of the line, but he twisted his way over to score in the corner.
That put Wasps 8-6 ahead, but Harlequins dominated the remainder of the first half, controlling territory. Marland Yarde proved a handful off his wing, while Nick Evans was pulling the strings at fly half.
The former All Black had kicked two penalty goals before he chased down a chip over the top from Karl Dickson and fended off Christian Wade to score Harlequins’ first try of the evening, which he duly converted.
Jimmy Gopperth reduced the arrears with a penalty goal as the Wasps pack started to get on top, but Harlequins opened up the visiting team again after the interval, with George Lowe cutting a nice line on to Evans’s pass and stepping past the last defender to score.
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Wasps began to apply the pressure. Rob Miller’s break was halted by Brown’s try-saving tackle, but the Coventry-based team piled forward, with Nathan Hughes and Ashley Johnson used as battering rams to try to smash holes in the Harlequins defensive line. The home team defended their line well, forcing Johnson into a loose pass, and Evans, the evergreen fly half, was able to run the ball clear. The introduction of Marler in a whole new front row turned the tables in the scrum battle.
Evans kicked two more penalty goals to secure the victory, but Wasps secured themselves a losing bonus point when Wade broke clear down the touchline — the first time all night he had not been immediately closed down — and he fed Elliot Daly with the inside pass for a try.
It set up a tense final three minutes. Harlequins made life harder for themselves by conceding possession with a crooked lineout throw from Joe Gray, but they defended well, Marler forced the turnover and Brown ran the ball dead to seal the win.
Scoring sequence (Harlequins first): 0-3, 3-3, 6-3, 6-8, 13-8, 13-11 (half-time) 20-11, 20-14, 23-14, 26-14, 26-21.
Scorers: Harlequins: Tries: Evans (24), Lowe (46). Conversions: Evans 2. Penalty goals: Evans 3 (8, 14, 71, 74). Wasps: Tries: Cooper-Woolley (15), Daly (75). Conversion: Jackson. Penalty goals: Gopperth 3 (5, 29, 59).
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Harlequins: O Lindsay-Hague (rep: M Brown, 54min); M Yarde, G Lowe, H Sloan, C Walker; N Evans, K Dickson; M Lambert (rep: J Marler, 54), D Ward (rep: J Gray, 54), A Jones (rep: K Sinckler, 54), J Horwill (rep: C Matthews, 73), S Twomey, J Clifford, L Wallace, M Luamanu (rep: N Easter, 59).
Wasps: R Miller; C Wade, E Daly, B Macken, J Bassett (rep: S Tagicakibau, 59); J Gopperth (rep: R Jackson, 73), J Simpson (rep: D Robson, 59); M Mullan (rep: S McIntyre, 67), A Johnson (rep: C Festuccia, 67), J Cooper-Woolley (rep: P Swainston, 67), J Cannon (rep: K Myall, 59), J Gaskell, S Jones, G Smith, N Hughes (rep: T Young, 59).
Referee: L Pearce.
Lancaster’s bombers
Mike Brown: try-saving tackle on Rob Miller.
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Joe Marler: won the turnover to seal victory for Harlequins.
Nick Easter: some typically forceful carries when he came off the bench to see Harlequins home.