With the conditions continuing to dictate open and expansive play, the Harlequins fans were treated to a seven try show.

It was a very dramatic opening half which saw three yellow cards, one each for Connacht's Miah Nikora and Quins' Luke Wallace and Nick Evans. But a total of four tries from Evans, Nick Easter George Lowe and Ross Chisholm.

With a 26-6 lead at the break further tries from Sam Smith, Danny Care and a second for Chisholm sealed the victory.

Harlequins started strongly and showed their intent early on with two try scoring opportunities.

Both Jordan Turner-Hall and James Johnston crossed the whitewash only to be denied by being held up and a knock on. Harlequins kept the pressure on and when they were awarded a five metre scrum, the front eight showed strong signs of things to come.

With a surging scrum, the ball was shipped from Care to Evans who cut through the defence to score. The fly-half converted his own score to take a 7-0 lead.

Tom Williams began a promising attack for Quins on 11 minutes and as numerous offloads brought play onto the Connacht 10 metre line, the visitors conceded a penalty to break the attack down. Evans kicked to touch and Quins attacked from a seven metre lineout.

Showing their physical prowess the forwards drove towards the line, when Care picked from the back he ran toward the line. As the scrum half dived over to score, the ball was knocked out of his hands. This allowed Connacht to clear pressure from a resulting five metre scrum.

Connacht were dealt a blow when fly-half Miah Nikora was sin binned for repeated infringements on 17 minutes. A huge kick from Evans gave Quins a five metre lineout and again the dominant forwards drove toward the line. When Nick Easter broke off the back of the maul he bundled over to score and with Evans' extras Quins lead 14-0 on 20 minutes.

Following the water break, Harlequins were reduced to 14 as Wallace tackled Fetu'u Vainikolo late from the winger's clearance.

When Harlequins infringed at the break down on 27 minutes Connacht got their first points on the board through Matthew Jarvis' boot.

Connacht gained momentum in the latter stages of the first half, but yet another strong maul from the forwards, followed by a monstrous clearance from Evans averted the danger.

Moments after Wallace returned to the field Harlequins were back to 14 following the sin-binning of Evans. This deficit seemed to have no impact as following a second penalty kick from Connacht, Harlequins responded with two tries in quick succession to end the first half.

The first came from George Lowe. The centre raced from halfway to score Quins' third try after receiving a beautiful offload from Turner-Hall. The second came as result of a magnificent break from Wallace. The ball passed through numerous hands and found Ross Chisholm to score. With Evans in the sin bin, Care stepped up to take both conversions. After missing the first, he slotted the second, giving Quins a 26-6 lead at half time.

Harlequins took the early advantage in the second half following the Connacht restart not going 10 metres. The Londoners kept the ball through the forwards and when they shipped down the blindside to Turner-Hall, the centre charged down the left wing. With the mis match in defence the English international passed inside to Smith who scored with just three minutes played. Still with Evans off the field Care was unable to convert as Quins lead 31-6.

Connacht responded with a score of their own through centre Robbie Henshaw. As the ball was kicked into the Quins 22, Easter lazily took a clearance kick. It was charged down and Connacht scored. The conversion was missed and Quins returned to 15 men on 49 minutes.

Harlequins again responded immediately through a try from Care. When Quins worked right up to the Connacht line, the scrum-half fooled the defence to cross over. Evans returned the normal kicking duties and extended the lead to 38-11.

As the mid-way point of the half drew passed, Nick Evans put in a lovely grubber kick through the Connacht defence. Full-back Chisholm picked up the ball to touch down over the line. Evans extras increased the lead to 45-11 on 64 minutes.

Harlequins enjoyed the late pressure and looked likely to end on a high note with a try for Wallace. The flanker was denied due to an earlier forward pass and the full time whistle blew.