Something old, something new. Gloucester won on the road, which was all too rare last season. And Harlequins lost at home, an occurrence so common that there seems little point in them giving up their parking place in the Premiership basement.
Just as familiar was Harlequins' sense of drama. As usual they threatened to step out of the twilight with something dazzling. It is an old story, full of the same old characters. They could have won this game. A charge by Keith Wood in the last minute from a line-out threatened to make a right mess of Gloucester's grip on the game, a hold that had already gone from limp to iron-tight.
The team seriously predicted to make the Zurich Premiership something more dynamic than a procession started with no concession to the dangers of rust. Glouces ter from the off started to go through their repertoire: Robert Todd ran hard and straight at little Paul Burke, the forwards flexed their mauling muscles and James Simpson-Daniel danced a few steps on the wing.
Unfortunately, such self-confidence led to less than nothing. Before Gloucester actually managed to make a chain of their bits, Harlequins put 10 points past them. By way of contrast, the home team's approach had been to put boot to ball and play a territorial game. From a scrum in the Gloucester 22, however, they suddenly produced a sublime bit of handling. Matt Powell fed Burke, dummy runners kept the defence at bay, Powell looped his outside-half and delivered the sweetest of one-handed passes to Matt Moore running in from his wing.
Burke then added a penalty for a booting offence at a ruck, which also cost Gloucester the sevices of Mark Cornwell for 10 minutes. Harlequins should have gone further ahead while the second-row was away, but Burke's penalty attempt struck a post.
Gloucester were still a blend of slick and slack. Olivier Azam ran hard for the line, but then decided to use both hands to fend off Will Greenwood. Er, he dropped the ball. A pass to Cornwell near the line then bounced harmlessly into touch.
At last the passes began to stick. Jake Boer gave and took neatly in his own 22; giant Ed Pearce delivered a long pass in midfield to launch another counter. The passes were accurate and the scoreboard was ticking. Marcel Garvey, a 19-year-old, took advantage of the advantage, as it were, of a knock-on by Greenwood to go solo to the line.
A more collective effort by the forwards - a catch and drive at the line-out - led to a second try. Terry Fanolua was just at the end of a 20-metre sprint to join the maul when Junior Paramore touched down. Even driving mauls have dummy runners now.
It was all set up for a rousing second half, especially when Burke kicked a penalty to reduce the gap to five points. Tiredness was bound to be a factor as lack of match practice kicked in. There was a bit of a wait, mind you. Harlequins couldn't escape their own half and for the entire third quarter it seemed that Gloucester were going to strangle their way to a win.
But then came the excitement. Ben Gollings electrified the game with a kick and chase, Burke kicked a penalty and then, with five minutes of normal time remaining, put his side ahead again with a neat drop goal, following a surge by Ace Tiatia.
The response was swift. Henry Paul, looking much more assured already this season, apart from the odd charged-down clearance, made a little break and tried to off-load one-handed. The ball rather bobbled Trevor Woodman's way, but the prop scooped it up and began a weaving run every bit as twinkle-toed as Garvey's had been.
It was a weaving run worthy of winning a match, which was precisely what it did . Gloucester's grip was firm again. Their gauntlet has been chucked down with force. There is a buzz to the season already.
Harlequins: Williams; Moore, Greenwood, Bell, Gollings; Burke, Powell (Bemand 60); Leonard (capt), Wood, Gomez, Davison, Codling (Codling 57), Tiatia, Sanderson, Diprose.
Gloucester: Delport; Garvey (Mercier 48), Fanolua, Todd, Simpson-Daniel; Paul, Gomarsall; Woodman, Azam (Fortey 65), Vickery (capt), Pearce (Fidler 72), Cornwell, Boer, Hazell (Forrester 61), Paramore.
Referee: S Lander (Liverpool).
