This set-to was the other end of the spectrum from the fizzing stuff played by the Crusaders at Twickenham last weekend, but, while it lacked the finesse and the flair shown by the star-studded New Zealanders, most of the heavy duty merits of the domestic league were on show.
The tackling was fierce and uncompromising, and the forward exchanges had a belligerence about them that was lacking in the Super 15 encounter.
There was the added intrigue of England match-ups throughout the starting line ups with the Harlequins’ young pretenders trying to make a mark on the Leicester men, most of whom are ahead in the England pecking.
With their trip to Dublin looming this was also a test of Leicester’s strength and depth. They rested a handful of the players you would expect to start against Leinster, with forwards Martin Castrogiovanni, Thomas Waldrom and George Skivington on the bench.
Harlequins started as if they intended to take a leaf out of the Crusaders’ book, and after Nick Easter made a clean break through the Leicester defensive line, the home side cut through only for a lovely handling move to be pulled up for a forward pass.
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Harlequins’ early adventure went unrewarded because Nick Evans, playing his first match after being out for six weeks with a hand injury, pushed an easy penalty wide of the posts after Craig Newby had conceded a further 10m for back chatting the referee.
There were also signs that Toby Flood has yet to fully recover from the disappointment of failing to clinch a Grand Slam with England, because he was unable to pick up here where he left off when the Tigers trounced Bath last weekend. His first touch resulted in him taking three steps inside before throwing a late offload for a net gain of no yards, and soon afterwards he threw a forward pass to George Chuter. Nor did Leicester’s young Samoan powerhouse Manu Tuilagi fare much better. He was dumped into touch by Hugo Monye and was penalised soon afterwards for failing to release after being tackled. In the arm wrestle at the breakdown it was Harlequins who succeeded in getting the quicker ball.
The home side should have taken the lead midway through the half after a scuffed clearance by Scott Hamilton put the Tigers under pressure in their own 22. When George Robson won the catch the ball was moved to Monye, who had enough wiry strength to set up a midfield ruck. Enter Easter, no doubt stung by the suggestion that England’s latest Kiwi convert, Waldrom, is about to take the red rose No 8 shirt on his back. The big Harlequin produced an electric burst with a dynamism many of us thought was beyond him, and as he took off on a 25m run, handing-off Horatio Agulla in the process, he looked to have squeezed in at the left corner for the opening try. However, his knee hit the line before he grounded the ball and the try was disallowed.
However, the sense that Leicester were vulnerable increased when Flood — whose goal kicking was outstanding during the Six Nations — pushed a 40m penalty wide, and when Harlequins came again they finally had their reward.
Monye was worked free down the left wing on an overlap, and when he was stopped a few metres short by the Leicester cover, Danny Care scooped the ball up and darted past three Leicester defenders to score by the posts, Evans’ conversion giving Harlequins a 7-0 lead.
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Five minutes before the break the Harlequins fly-half made it 10-0 when Evans kicked a long range penalty, and although Flood had the opportunity to get Leicester off the mark with one in reply, it fell short and wide — much like Leicester’s first-half effort.
Star man: Tom Croft (Leicester)
Scorers: Harlequins: Try: Care 31 Con: Evans Pens: Evans (2) Leicester: Tries: A Tuilagi 41, penalty try 56 Cons: Flood (2) Pen: Flood
Yellow cards: Harlequins: Lambert, Skinner
Red cards: Harlequins: Marler Leicester: Ayerza
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Referee: W Barnes (RFU)
Harlequins: M Brown; G Camacho, G Lowe, J Turner-Hall, U Monye (T Williams 58min); N Evans, D Care; J Marler, J Gray, J Andress (M Lambert 42min), O Kohn (T Vallejos-Cinalli 75min), G Robson, M Fa'asavalu (C Jones 56min), C Robshaw (capt, W Skinner 34min, C Jones 68min), N Easter.
Leicester: S Hamilton; H Agulla, M Tuilagi, A Allen (M Smith 71min), A Tuilagi; T Flood, B Youngs; M Ayerza, G Chuter, D Cole (M Castrogiovanni 57min), S Mafi, E Slater, T Croft, C Newby (capt, B Stankovich 67min), J Crane (T Waldrom 57min).