The Welsh region have a dismal record on the road in the competition having only won two out of their last 20 fixtures away from the Arms Park.
Scrum half Jason Spice’s try on the hour mark cancelled out Nick Easter’s effort and put the Blues 13-10 in the lead. But within two minutes, Quins fly half Chris Malone pegged back the Magners League leaders to earn a share of the points which could be valuable for qualification to the last eight.
The Blues travelled to London for the third Anglo-Welsh clash of the weekend in Europe’s premier tournament. Dai Young’s men were hoping to be the first region to win after defeats for the Ospreys and the Dragons but came up short with an abject display in a match which was there for the taking.
The Blues came into the clash in confident mood following their opening bonus-point win over rivals Bristol in Pool 3. And with a double-header with Stade Francais on the horizon in December, the Blues would have hoped to gain a victory over Quins, who are back in the competition after a two-year absence.
Although domestic club interests were at the forefront of everyone’s minds, there would have been national eyes casting over the action at the Twickenham Stoop.
Five of Nigel Davies’s Wales provisional squad to face world champions South Africa at the Millennium Stadium next Saturday started the match with emerging flanker Robin Sowden-Taylor on the bench.
Davies will hope new Welsh captain Gethin Jenkins, Tom James, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Robinson and Rhys Thomas have emerged unscathed before he whittles down his squad to just 24 players.
And although Shanklin took a blow to the head in the 20th minute, the classy centre managed to quickly shake off the knock to resume action.
The hosts began brightly and took a deserved lead after seven minutes through the boot of fly-half Chris Malone. French referee Pascal Gauzere awarded the penalty when Blues second-row Paul Tito was penalised for hands in a ruck.
Dean Richards’s forwards were relishing the contest as they employed a tight style of play together with numerous up and unders to test the handling ability of Blues fullback Ben Blair.
Quins should have extended their lead just six minutes later when Malone missed a penalty from the far right touchline as the Blues struggled to gain any possession or territory in a poor opening quarter.
It took the Blues 21 minutes to make their first tentative steps into the Quins’ half. But the visitors failed to take advantage when hooker Thomas threw away their first attacking line-out.
However, within 60 seconds the Blues weren’t to be denied. Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw was caught on the wrong side of the scrum and Blair kicked a penalty from just outside the 22 to level the scores.
The match badly needed a spark as the Blues played into the hands of the physical Quins. Shanklin produced a threatening burst in the 38th minute but he was foiled by a stubborn home defence.
Then on the stroke of half time, England wing Dave Strettle capitalised on an awkward bounce of the ball to beat opposite number Tom James but the Blues managed to temporarily evade the danger. And in the resulting passage of play, Maama Molitika palmed down the line-out into the path of the on-rushing Easter who scored with consummate ease.
Malone kicked the extras to gave the home side a 10-3 interval lead. But the Blues hit back nine minutes into the second half thanks to Blair’s second penalty after Quins were caught offside.
The Blues were warming to the task as the match wore on and after a ten minute spell of pressure, Quins wing Ugo Monye crashed into his own post while defending.
Monye then failed to reach touch and James’s burst was well-supported by scrum half Jason Spice to hand the Blues the lead on the hour mark. Blair converted but within two minutes Malone brought the scores level at 13-13 with a long-range penalty.
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