Saracens 19 Harlequins 10

In appalling conditions of high wind, sleeting rain and cold Harlequins slipped to their third consecutive defeat.

It would be wrong to blame this on their England absentees for two reasons.

Quins were let down by their established  players like Andre Esterhuizen who has lost his dynamism and Tyrone Green who handled the high ball poorly.

Conversely Hugh Tizzard, the young lock who will be at Saracens next season, deputised well.  Secondly Saracens had lost Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Jamie George too.

The home side mastered the conditions better and with the Vunipolas and Alex Lozowski still had power and more accurate kicking.

Quins reached half-time on level terms but the wind was in their favour.  In the second half, with the wind behind Saracens, Lozowski put over 3 penalties.

As an experience I would have preferred my sofa and the TV coverage.

The Stonex stadium, once the Copthall Athletics Arena, is rather soulless with two boxy stands built by Saracens.

I sat in the middle of the East stand with good vision though my Saracens neighbour complained that it was exposed to rain and sun.

I was unfamiliar with the local geography so it proved a long walk back in the rain to my hotel to see the second half of Italy v England

I never thought that the match against Italy would resolve much as they are less effective opposition than Ireland or France.

Marcus Smith did boss the match and Joe Marchant looked more comfortable in the centre but we need to assess these two and Alex Dombrandt against stronger  teams.