Leicester Tigers 9 Harlequins 22: match report The main difference was Quins" desire to keep the ball on the move. The strategy was apparent from the start when Leicester kicked off and Quins strung phase after phase together for almost three minutes. It seems that relentless continuity is the next stage in the Londoners" evolution. Downgrade the importance of the primary phases of play and rely on the ability of individuals to play what is in front of them. It is paying off. Quins" only try of the half came when Nick Evans, comfortably the best outside-half in the Premiership, passed around his man in the tackle to find lock George Robson in support, who then sent Tom Williams in under the posts. Others got in on the act. Ugo Monye off-loaded superbly after a powerful surge and James Johnston, the man-mountain Samoan prop, also put a colleague into space. Three or four deft passes in a half does not seem like much, but they defined Quins" approach. Leicester had none of that magic in the opening exchanges. Toby Flood flicked wide balls into midfield but a host of Quins defenders were waiting for the recipient and Leicester were forced to fall back on their old style, which is to get Jordan Crane, Geoff Parling and Steve Mafi barrelling up the middle in the hope that defences will eventually crack. There was a bit of the old Leicester in the way that Sam Harrison ran several yards with the ball after a free kick was awarded at a scrum to prevent Danny Care taking a quick tap. But that is not a criticism. You get away with what you can in professional sport. Leicester cranked it up still further at the start of the second half. Pushed 10 points behind after another Evans penalty, Leicester engineered a number of line-outs five metres from the Quins" line. Surprisingly, the Leicester machine stuttered. Quins lock Robson got the better of Graham Kitchener on a couple of throws and, later, a dazzling run by Harrison petered out when a Leicester support player entered the breakdown illegally to give away a penalty. A fine tackle by Quins replacement Ross Chisholm on Julian Salvi was also very important in corralling Leicester's fightback. Crucially, too, Leicester's discipline which has been uncharacteristically slack in the first half, creaked again just when they needed to regroup. Inside the last quarter a Flood penalty had returned Leicester to within a converted try of Quins, but four minutes later a Leicester offence enabled Evans to stretch the lead back to 10 points.And that was the way it stayed as the game entered its final moments. Quins, apparently reaping the benefits of a series of brutal conditioning sessions, were able to peg Leicester back in their own half. Mike Brown had a chance to finish it off but turned back into defenders instead of staying wide where the support was on offer. But there was no stopping Quins" momentum and no stopping Evans who landed his fifth successful kick of the game, his fourth penalty, after yet more Leicester indiscipline. Four from four also for Quins. It doesn't get better than that. Scores: 3-0 Flood pen, 3-3 Evans pen, 6-3 Flood pen, 6-8 Williams try, 6-10 Evans con, 6-13 Care drop goal, 6-16 Evans pen, 9-16 Flood pen, 9-19 Evans pen, 9-22 Evans pen. Leicester: S Hamilton (P Phibbs 74); N Morris (A Thompstone 74), M Smith, A Allen, V Goneva; T Flood, S Harrison; B Stankovich (L Mulipola 48), T Youngs (G Chuter 54), M Castrogiovanni (D Cole 48), G Kitchener, G Parling, S Mafi (T Waldrom 48), J Salvi, J Crane (capt). Harlequins: M Brown; T Williams (R Chisholm 21 then replaced by Dickson 62), M Hopper, Jordan Turner-Hall (R Clegg 50), U Monye; N Evans, D Care; J Marler, J Gray (R Buchanan 78), J Johnston, O Kohn, G Robson, M Fa'asavalu (T Guest 56), C Robshaw (capt), N Easter. Referee: D Pearson (RFU).