Everything was in place for Harlequins: a world record regular-season crowd, sundry X Factor contestants and attentive national coaches. The only missing ingredient was a compliant opposition side happy to roll over in the name of seasonal family entertainment. For the opening 40 minutes Saracens did not so much gatecrash their neighbours' big festive bash as steal the show completely.
By the time Quins restored some order in the second half it was too late to save their proud unbeaten run in this year's Premiership race. Ten successive victories mean they still top the standings but the defending champions will consider this a highly significant result. If the two teams are reunited in the same arena for the grand final in May, Sarries will surely fancy their chances of retaining their title. They have now beaten their London rivals in their past five successive league meetings.
Not that Quins will be entirely disheartened. To attract a crowd of 82,000 to a regular-season club game in deepest December is some feat, even when the two sides involved are topping the table. There was a crowd of 50,000 for the first Big Game in 2008; three years on the sold-out signs were up and ticket touts were in evidence outside Twickenham station. The former Quins chief executive Mark Evans, the man who presided over the birth of the concept, will be one of many experiencing a warm inner glow.
There will be Six Nations matches which fail to generate the deep-throated, passionate roars which ricocheted around the ground. After the year English rugby has had on the world stage here was also a timely reminder that better days are not necessarily miles away.
Sarries, initially at least, were supremely clinical and professional, Andy Saull causing repeated problems for Quins at the breakdown and the man of the match, Brad Barritt, knocking down everything in front of him. Neither man will have done his chances of England senior squad selection any harm in front of the watching interim head coach, Stuart Lancaster, and his assistant Graham Rowntree.
Owen Farrell also played the percentages with an assurance beyond his years, kicking 14 points including the conversion of what turned out to be the game's decisive try by David Strettle, who intercepted a fatally delayed floated pass from Joe Marler. At 19-3 after barely 25 minutes, it threatened to be a very one-sided contest but Sarries, surprisingly, did not register another point. "They were incredibly disciplined," said Conor O'Shea, Quins' disappointed director of rugby. "But that's only part one between us and Saracens this season. That wasn't a cup final, the cup finals are in May. We'll be there and we'll be ready for it."
O'Shea and his counterpart, Mark McCall, were also agreed that several players on both sides deserve inclusion in England's Six Nations squad to be named on 11 January. McCall correctly highlighted the impressive understanding between his midfield triangle of Farrell, Barritt and Charlie Hodgson and says it will "be interesting to see" if England feel similarly. "We feel it is high time some of our younger players are selected," he stressed. "We want our players to be involved." O'Shea, who first saw Farrell at an RFU training camp in Loughborough when he was 14, has little doubt he will represent his country sooner rather than later. "It was an Under-18 camp and he ran the show. He's an outstanding player … he will be a cornerstone for England for a long time."
In the end it all depends on the balance Lancaster opts for. If he fancies a genuine ball-sniffing openside he could do a lot worse than consider Saull, who marked his 100th appearance for Saracens with a rip-roaring display which left the Quins captain, Chris Robshaw, in his slipstream. Some of Hodgson's passing flat to the gain-line was also of the highest order; with Farrell taking care of the goalkicking, the former Sale fly-half is pulling strings without distraction.
It was not quite what a record crowd, eclipsing the 81,601 who saw the 2009 grand final between London Irish and Leicester, had expected. Even when Quins did dominate possession and territory in the second half, allowing Marler to score one close-range try, they struggled to find the accuracy which skewered Toulouse before Christmas.
Had Maurie Fa'asavalu grasped an offload from Nick Easter eight minutes from time there could have been a grandstand finish but, ultimately, even a losing bonus point went begging. Quins' lead at the top is now five points but, as O'Shea keeps saying, trophies are not won in December.
Harlequins Brown; Stegmann (Williams, 34), Hopper, Turner-Hall, Monye; Evans, Care; Marler, Brooker (Gray, 58), J Johnston (Fairbrother, 58), Vallejos, Robson, Fa'asavalu, Robshaw (capt), Easter.
Try Marler Pens Evans 2
Saracens Goode; Strettle (Wyles, 42), Farrell (Powell, 73), Barritt, Short; Hodgson, Stringer (Spencer, 60); Gill (Stevens, 58), Brits, Nieto (Smit, 60), Borthwick (capt), Kruis (Botha, 58), Brown (Wray, 73), Saull, Joubert.
Try Strettle Con Farrell Pens Farrell 4
Referee W Barnes (RFU). Attendance 82,000.
