Harlequins shook off their terrible start to the season with a 57-19 win over RC Vannes in the EPCR Challenge Cup at a rainy Twickenham Stoop.
Marcus Smith looked to be back to his brilliant best, nabbing two tries, whilst George Furbank shone at full back.
RC Vannes looked promising in the first half, keeping Quins on a tight leash but the home side found another gear to sweep them aside.
Cadan Murley opened the scoring with a training ground started by Rodrigo Isgro's fast break.
Quins struck again through another set piece, with George Furbank pulling off a smart offload before Isgro again assisted Marcus Smith.
The visitors struck back through Wayan de Benedittis, crashing over after a period of Quins' indiscipline.
Will Hobson responded, powering over the line, to restore the Londoners' 14 point advantage.
A Smith yellow card, for a deliberate knock on, sparked a chaotic passage of play, with Enzo Benmegal profiting from the bounce of the ball.
At the end of the first half, Murley grabbed his second try from Lucas Friday's mega pass.
Benmegal also notched a brace, finishing acrobatically into the corner.
Sam Riley finished off neat play from Kieran Treadwell's lineout work as the rain started to pour.
With Vannes threatening to turn the tide, Smith slid over, Northmore giving a simple pass to the fly-half.
Off the bench, Will Evans added another, the beneficiary of a strong driving maul. Jimmy Staples returned the favour, scoring again just minutes later.
It was Evans again, a carbon copy of his first try, who rumbled over at the back of a maul to cap off a strong team performance.
HARLEQUINS: 57
Tries: Murley 7', 40', Smith 15', 60', Hobson 31', Riley 49', Evans 66', 76', Staples 69'
Conversions: Smith 8', 16', 32', 50', 70', 77'
Yellow Card: Smith 36'
RC VANNES: 19
Tries: de Benedittis 21', Benmegal 37', 42'
Conversions: Cotarmanac'h 22', 38'
Yellow Card: Stegehuis 76'
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Marcus Smith
After having an injury-hit start to the season, Smith has returned with a bang. He ran the show from fly-half and looked to be back to his usual magic self, after last season's disappointments.
He notched two tries, following on from two tries last week against Sale in the Prem, showcasing how important he is to this Harlequins side.
ONE TO WATCH: Lucas Friday
England have one of the brightest prospects in rugby currently in the form of Lucas Friday.
The baby-faced 20 year old performed remarkably, having been given the nod over Will Porter.
His long pass to Murley at the end of the first half was well over 20 metres and he was typically annoying around the ruck for Vannes.
Expect to see him in England training camps in the near future.
PLAYER RATINGS
HARLEQUINS STARTING XV
15. George Furbank - 7
14. Rodrigo Isgró - 8
13. Luke Northmore - 6
12. Bryn Bradley - 6
11. Cadan Murley (c) - 7
10. Marcus Smith - 9
9. Lucas Friday - 8
1. Will Hobson - 6
2. Sam Riley - 7
3. Ollie Streeter - 5
4. James Dun - 6
5. Kieran Treadwell - 6
6. Guido Petti Pagadizábal - 6
7. Seb Driscoll - 5
8. Lucas Schmid - 6
REPLACEMENTS
16. Jimmy Staples - 7
17. Harry Johnson-Holmes - 6
18. Pedro Delgado - 6
19. Elliot Williams - 6
20. Harry Browne - 6
21. Will Evans - 7
22. Will Porter - 8
23. Tyrone Green - 6
RC VANNES STARTING XV
15. Joe Jonas - 5
14. Paul Bard - 6
13. Marin Boulier - 5
12. Inia Tabuavou - 4
11. Enzo Benmegal - 6
10. Jean Cotarmanac'h - 6
9. Simi Kuruvoli - 5
1. Wayan de Benedittis - 4
2. Théo Béziat - 5
3. Santiago Medrano - 4
4. Thomas Ployet - 5
5. Mattéo Desjeux - 4
6. Juan Bautista Pedemonte - 5
7. Steeve Blanc-Mappaz (c) - 4
8. Rudi Brown - 5
REPLACEMENTS
16. Hayam El Bibouji - 3
17. Hugo Djehi - 4
18. Simon Bourgeois - 4
19. Jesse Stegehuis - 4
20. Basil Paul - 4
21. Mikheil Alania - 4
22. Robin Gicquel - 4
23. Robin Taccola - 4
5 TALKING POINTS
Marcus Smith reflects on a Player of the Match performance
The England international looked right at home, capitalising on open defensive lines and using his boot accurately too.
Smith said: "I'm very happy. The last few weeks, obviously, haven't been what we hoped in terms of results.
"We've been building to this and we thought we owed it to ourselves and to the fans who turned out through thick and thin.
"It's nice to go away with a smile on our faces."
Quins lineout take the plaudits
The set piece has been something of a mess for Harlequins over the last couple of seasons, however it worked to devastating effect today.
Quins' last three tries were all scored from the lineout platform; Evans and Staples the beneficiaries.
It will be an encouraging sign for the Quins coaching staff as they look to try and reverse their ill-fated start to the 26/27 season.
Vannes' Rudi Brown disappointment
The visitors were firmly in the game during the first half. They were able to take their chances and pile pressure on Quins.
However, once the rain hit and Quins gained momentum, they were impossible to stop.
Brown said: "It was a tough one to take, we started quite well.
"The game got away from us in the end and when they got momentum they stayed on top of us and kept scoring."
Captain Murley insists Quins will keep improving
Much has been made of Quins start to the season. With lots of media scrutiny and former players coming out to express their disappointment with the club, this victory will serve well to remind supporters of what Quins can do.
Murley said: "I'm really pleased, that second half we showed a lot of maturity. We were doing what was going really well."
"We had that blip against Gloucester. It was an embarrassing defeat.
"We've got to stick to what we do, improve our game model, improve week on week and things will only go up.
"We're only three weeks into the Prem and one week into Europe, we're trying to improve together."
Second string team for Vannes
It is widely known that away teams do not travel particularly well in Europe. Vannes rested some big names in Ben Stevenson, Dave Cherry and Sione Kalamafoni.
With the rigours of competing in the Top 14, perhaps it was expected that Vannes would send a relatively weaker team.
However, with Harlequins' poor start to the season, they could have tried to ride on those coattails and inflict a further defeat.
