A great day out it might have been, but less so for the players in this, the first game of the London double-header. Most spent some time receiving treatment for various ailments, with dehydration probably the main culprit under the burning sun.

London Irish ended up with an official "home" win, even though it was played across the road from Harlequins's home, The Stoop, but both sides were labouring under the sun.

As well as this event was going off the field, there's nothing the marketing men can do about the product on the field, and this was ropey from the start.

Most eyes were on Mike Catt, as he made his debut for London Irish. If asked, he would probably in retrospect have preferred that they weren't. His first 40 minutes in the jersey might have been forgettable, if only they hadn't been so bad.

He dropped passes, his customary miss-passes were doing just that, and he nearly beheaded Ugo Monye with one tackle. His first successful cut-out pass, in first-half injury time, was a good one, however, and his last tackle of the half was a superb cover effort on the same fast-escaping Monye.

There was precious little action on the scoreboard in that first period, most of it happening in the last two minutes of injury time when Andy Dunne and Barry Everitt exchanged penalties, after Everitt's 10th-minute penalty had given Irish the early lead.

Catt, however, was involved in a more positive way after the break, as his half-break featured in the build-up to the game's first try, taken by Geoff Appleford in the corner.

By the hour Harleqins had made adjustments to their midfield with newly signed Irishman Jeremy Staunton replacing Dunne at fly-half. He made an impression immediately, as Harlequin runners found gaps off his passing. Will Greenwood suddenly looked liberated, and from one of the England centre's breaks, Staunton was afforded an easy penalty opportunity.

Harlequins looked to be back in the hunt. But it didn't last long. Irish worked a position on the Quins 22, Paul Sackey picked the ball up from a ruck and seeing only prop forward Jon Dawson on the fringes found little difficulty in skipping past him and thence to the unguarded line.

More sleight of hand from the likes of Greenwood and Staunton earned Quins position at the end of the game and Staunton's third penalty secured them a bonus point.

London Irish: Armitage; Sackey, Appleford, Catt (Mordt 66), Staniforth; Everitt, Edwards (Hodgson 77); Hatley, Flavin (Russell 67), Hardwick (Durant 80), Strudwick (capt; Kennedy 65), Casey, Gustard (Murphy 56), Dawson, Roche.

Harlequins: Duffy; Monye (Williams 73), Greenwood, Deane, Keogh; Dunne (Staunton 61), So'oialo; Worsley (Jones 58), Fuga (Hayter 65), Dawson, Rudzki, Miall, Tiatia (Molitika 58), Vos (capt), Hortsmann.

Referee: W Barnes (Sussex).

You've read the piece, now have your say. Email your comments, be as frank as you like, we can take it, to sport.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk, or mail the Observer direct at sport@observer.co.uk