Two tries in eight minutes, which earned them their first bonus point of the day, gave Quins an outside chance of snatching a dramatic win with nine minutes of normal time remaining.

However, another giveaway score saw Agustin Pichot grab a sixth try for the home side and increase the deficit to a massive 17 points (48-31).

But a late Nathan Williams score from Mel Deane's pass that Burke converted and a dramatic last kick of the game penalty, after the Quins fly half saw his drop goal attempt cannon off the post, earned the visitors a second bonus point, which may yet prove to be crucial come the end of the season.

Earlier in the game, Quins leaked scores at more than a point a minute, as the home side raced into a 16-3 lead after only 12 minutes. Pichot opened the scoring after barely two minutes when he ran 40 metres from the base of a ruck to touchdown under the posts. Felipe Contepomi added the conversion and a penalty a few minutes later, before Burke pulled back three points with a penalty of his own.

Two more Contepomi penalties saw the home side move further in front, before Saul Nelson added a try from a front of the lineout move, which left Quins staring into an abyss at 21-3 down with less than a quarter of the game gone.

Contepomi missed his first conversion but added a penalty to ease his side 24-3 ahead inside the half-an-hour mark, before Dan Luger scored his first try since coming back from injury, taking advantage of a Jamie Williams fumble following Burke's delicate chip through.

Burke converted to keep Quins in sight of Bristol, but a third home try from Alex Brown just before the break that thankfully went unconverted, saw Quins with a second half mountain to climb.

England centre Will Greenwood scored a bizarre try within 20 seconds of the restart, when he blocked former Quins full back Williams attempted clearance, and as the ball landed with centre Andrew Higgins, he saw his clearance rebound off a Bristol player and land in Greenwood's arms as he was standing in the in-goal area.

The England centre seemed as stunned as the crowd as to what had happened, but touched down behind the sticks to give Burke an easy conversion, and suddenly it looked as if things were going Quins way.