In atrocious conditions and in front of an 82,000 sell-out crowd, Nick Evans and Ian Humphreys battled it out with their respective boots before Harlequins wore down the visitors and scored two second half tries from Danny Care and a penalty try from a dominant scrum.

London Irish were awarded a penalty in a kickable position in the 79^th minute. With the scores at 26-15, three points would not have been enough to earn them a vital losing bonus point. The Exiles chose to kick for the corner and the luxury of a try never came as Harlequins stole the lineout and cleared.

After the pyrotechnics when the players ran out, the heavens opened and this forced an uncharacteristic performance from Harlequins. A side who are famed for keeping the ball in hand, regularly chose to kick and in the slippery conditions, this resulted in the game lacking momentum.

That was until the 50^th minute when Care scuffled under the defence and over the line. Despite Humphreys reducing the gap by a further six points, the Harlequins forward pack secured their fourth penalty try in as many games to grind out the win and deny Irish a losing bonus point.

As both sides weighed each other up in the opening 20 minutes, the battle of the fly-halfs also took centre stage in a mixed display from the kickers.

The conditions were tough and as the wind and rain hurled around the stadium bowl, both kickers scored, but also missed, two shots on goal and at half time the shares were tied at 6-6.

Harlequins returned for the second half with much more emphasis. They started to play with the ball in hand and it was very effective. Credit is due to the Exiles' defence who dealt with the pressure well and regularly shut the hosts out.

Both kickers exchanged a further penalty each before Care set Twickenham alight with his try. The scrum-half made two darting and dangerous runs in the Irish 22 after 50 minutes. These runs followed a great defensive lineout from Irish who drove back the Harlequins forward pack initially. With his hands on the ball, he ducked and dived through the defence and over the line.

Despite the decision being referred to the Television Match Official, the try was awarded and with Evans' conversion, Harlequins lead 16-9.

Again the kickers exchanged penalties in the space of two minutes, but it was Irish's restart following Harlequins penalty that posed a true threat. The short restart was gathered by replacement Jamie Gibson on ten metres and he stormed his way into the 22. The Exiles worked numerous phases but the attack was halted when Joe Marler was able to intercept possession.

From the resulting phases of play, Olly Kohn had his hands illegally in the ruck and Humphreys happily reduced the gap to 19-15.

From here, Harlequins began to pick up momentum and a stunning run from Ugo Monye in to the 22 following a stolen up and under allowed Harlequins to attack in a threatening position. Rob Buchanan also made a great impact when he came on, regularly making good ground.

Matt Hopper was involved in two strong attacks and when he broke through the defensive, followed by strong breaks in succession from Monye, Evans and Robson, Harlequins found themselves deep inside the Exiles' 22.

Patrick Phibbs, who had been on the field a matter of minutes illegally interfered with play and was shown yellow for his act. The Harlequins scrum had become more dominant as the game progressed and it was this set piece that was chosen with three minutes to go.

It took just two resets as the Irish buckled and broke under the pressure for referee, Greg Garner to march under the posts and award the winning try, with Evans' conversion Harlequins lead 26-15.

From the restart Irish were awarded a penalty and instead of choosing the three points from a central position, the ball was kicked to touch. Harlequins stole the set piece and cleared to win.