It was a competitive match with Connacht proving to be tough opposition, and it was away side that opened the scoring. Fly half Tim Donnelly slotted over a penalty from in front of the post in the eleventh minute, though Quins responded immediately, as Malone equalled in similar fashion after Connacht were penalised for hands in the ruck (3-3).

It was a new line-up in the front row for Harlequins, with Aston Croall at hooker and the new combination seemed to work with Quins dominating the scrums. It was off the back of a set-piece on Connacht's five metre line that the first try of the game was scored. Danny Care broke the deadlock by diving over the try line to claim the touchdown after a massive push from the Quins pack had put Connacht on the back foot. Malone added the two extra points from the conversion and make the score 10-3.

Sustained pressure from the home side just before half time saw Connacht give away another penalty which was converted again by Malone (13-3). Quins maintained the pressure after the half time interval and even six replacements by Connacht did not change the flow of the game, with Malone converting a further two penalties within the first 15 minutes of the restart (19-3).

Quins put the game out of reach with two tries in the final 10 minutes. An interception from Malone saw him break through the Connacht line and an off load to Seb Stegmann, who was on his shoulder in support, resulted in the Academy player crossing the line for Quins second try. Captain Paul Volley completed the scoring with a try from the back of another scrum close to the Connacht line (31-3).

However, the visitors did not give up and reduced the deficit with only two minutes remaining, as back row forward Colm Rigney scored in the corner after a well worked move from replacement scrum half Brett Wilkinson.

Final score, 31-8.

Harlequins: 15. Mike Brown, 14. Tom Williams, 13. Ugo Monye, 12. Jordan Turner-Hall, 11. Simon Keogh, 10. Chris Malone, 9. Danny Care, 1. Ceri Jones, 2. Aston Croall, 3. Mike Ross, 4. Ollie Kohn, 5. Jim Evans, 6. Chris Robshaw, 7. Paul Volley (Capt.) 8. Tom Guest

Replacements: 16. Christophe Laurent, 17. John Brooks, 18. Ricky Nebbett, 19. Nicolas Spanghero, 20. George Robson, 21. Phil Davies, 22. Seb Jewell, 23. Tosh Masson, 24. Charlie Amesbury, 25. Seb Stegmann, 26. Ryan Manyika

Connacht: 15. Daniel Riordan, 14. Aidan Wynne, 13. Mel Deane, 12. Keith Matthews, 11. Darren Yapp, 10. Tim Donnelly, 9. Tom Tierney, 1. John Lyne, 2. Adrian Flavin, 3. Robbie Morris, 4. Andrew Browne, 5. Andrew Farley (Capt.), 6. Michael McCarthy, 7. Johnny O'Connor, 8. John Muldoon

Replacements: 16. Joe Merrigan, 17. Brett Wilkinson, 18. Michael Swift, 19. Ofisa Treviranus, 20. Conor McPhillips, 21. Conor O'Loughlin, 22. Peter Durcan, 23. Brian McGovern, 24. Kevin Moran, 25. John Fogarty, 26. Colm Rigney, 27. David Gannon