An hour after Harlequins plunged to their third straight defeat a couple of their supporters in multi-coloured cap and bells could be seen playfully shoving each other in the Stoop car park. The slow-motion vignette served as a precise illustration of the alarming shortcomings of the Quins defence, which is currently leaking around 30 points a match.
The revelation that high-flying Leeds use dustbins in their training programme prompted further unkind comparisons with the Quins rearguard, which has acquired the self-destructive habit of reacting late to events instead of trying to pre-empt them.
Leeds, hungry for success as never before, also go in for Indian wrestling and uphill running to build their stamina, which perhaps explains why they calmly blew Quins away in the final 10 minutes.
As the Leeds coach Phil Davies remarked, Quins cannot be taken for granted given the world-class talents of Keith Wood and Will Greenwood in their line-up. The Irishman dominated the forward clashes with his dynamic hard-driving style while Greenwood, sadly under-employed, scored the opportunist try of the afternoon. It was all to no avail of course. Leeds switched to overdrive and smashed out their third victory.
"I feel pretty crap just now but we coaches do this job because of the extreme highs and lows," said Mark Evans.
Far more worrying than the alarmingly low attendance of 5,500, though, was the total of 19 mainly unforced errors committed by Quins. The gifted Leeds full-back Dan Scarbrough was practically waved through for his brace of tries, each of which wiped out the hosts' precarious three-point lead.
Quins drew level at 10-10 and again at 23-23, only twice to fall apart. Ultimately Quins folded despite never having been under any set-piece pressure until the last minute when the Leeds flanker Cameron Mather picked up at the base of a scrum and scrambled over to seal victory.
The Londoners even had a goalkicker in form in Paul Burke, who dropped a stunning goal from outside the 22 which nudged Quins in front shortly before the break: his two penalties and two conversions also offered a lifeline as Leeds grew in confidence.
The powerful Springbok Braam van Straaten responded with an astonishing 60-metre penalty in the second half, finishing with 18 points to add to the 31 he scored against London Irish last week.
Harlequins: Williams (Jewell, 57); Moore, Greenwood, Satala, Gollings; Burke, Bemand; Leonard (capt), Wood, Gomez, Rudzki, Davison, Tiatia, Sanderson, Diprose.
Tries: Satala, Greenwood. Cons: Burke 2. Pens: Burke 2. Drop goal: Burke.
Leeds: Scarbrough; Harder, Davies, Van Straaten, Albanese; Ross, Hegarty; Shelley (capt), Regan, Kerr, Murphy, Palmer, Mather, Hyde, Feaunati.
Tries: Scarbrough 2, Mather. Cons: Van Straaten 3. Pens: Van Straaten 4.
Referee: R Dickson (Scotland). Attendance: 5,500.
