Quins wait for Pen to prove mighty

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Harlequins would entertain autumnal Welsh visitors at their "other'' ground over the road at Twickenham. Swansea or Llanelli would pitch up, with plenty of international asterisks alongside their names in the programme, and hardly anyone would bother to watch. Here we had hardly any rugby worth watching, and yet 4,252 people turned up. Strange.

The restructured Parker Pen Challenge Cup is a change for the better with some juicy ties awaiting in the second-round, but the first stage was seeded, making mismatches such as Quins' 73-20 first-leg victory in Wales last week inevitable. Undesirable? It depends on your point of view.

Caerphilly, without a win so far in the Celtic League, took it seriously enough to twice take penalty shots at the posts in the closing stages of the first half, at a time when they needed a swing of 57 points in their favour to qualify. Allen Chilten, the scrum-half, missed both. Ho-hum.

This was in fact, most unlike Caerphilly's coach, Mark Ring, who is on a mission to put the glam into Mid-Glamorgan. If tries equal entertainment, Caerphilly are worth watching; five-to-four in their favour here was a good effort whatever the circumstances. But Quins, mindful of next week's return to the weekly grind of the Zurich Premiership, treated it as little more than a training run. Their comfortable aggregate win means a second-round date in December against Stade Français, and the winners of that face either Wasps or Bordeaux-Begles in January's quarter-finals. However, in the name of another lunch for the alickadoos of European rugby, there is a draw in Paris on Tuesday to decide who plays at home in which leg in the next round. More money swilling around at the bottom of a wineglass while the needy live on scraps.

Take Dinamo Bucharest, for instance, whose trip to Watford for today's Parker Pen second-leg with Saracens is costing the thick end of £20,000. Cash that would be better spent on such luxuries as jerseys and boots. Certainly the argument that regular contact improves the lost of the struggling nations seems ill served by once a year thumpings from full time opponents. Caerphilly kept costs to a minimum yesterday, travelling up and down in the day, and they now go into the Parker Pen Shield, with the likes of Bucharest, and those matches really will be a test for the ticket sellers.

Three of Quins' England internationals – Jason Leonard, Tony Diprose and Nick Duncombe – each gave us something like their best before making way in under an hour. The try scoring was tit-for-tat before the interval, Quins followed by Caerphilly, with six in all including two each for the home side's Ben Gollings and the visitors' Gareth Jones.

Caerphilly bucked the trend when they worked No. 8 Andrew Williams over at the start of the second half, and so took the lead for the first time. Quins replied through Jim Evans, and fall back Nathan Williams added his fourth conversion plus a penalty to make it 31-22.

A frisson of excitement for Caerphilly's followers was supplied when Feao Vunipola dotted down at the corner, while substitutes trotted on or over. The final whistle signalled a dash for the bar, but at least Quins' cash registers were ringing.

Harlequins: N Williams; R Jewell, V Satala, N Greenstock, B Gollings; S Fitzgerald (M Moore, HT), N Duncombe (S Bemand 49); J Leonard (Captain, B Starr, 39), T Fuga (S Miall 21), L Gomez (P Cardinali HT) B Davison (M Powell 64), J Evans, A Tiatia, T Diprose (K Rudzki 49), L Sherriff.

Caerphilly: S Tuipolutu; G Lewis, R Boobyer (O Ashman 73), S Cox, R Howells; J Thomas (J Murphy 57), A Chilten (S Headington 74); L Manning (G Liddon 65), C Ferris (Captain; F Vunipola, 54-56, 65), R Skuse, N Watkins (M Workman 62), N Rouse (Workman, 9-11), G Jones, A Williams, J El Abd (R Lloyd, 37-40, 73).

Referee: G Davies (Scotland).