A brace of tries from England scrum-half Danny Care turned the game in Quins' favour just before the break as the visitors scored 15 unanswered points in the final 10 minutes of the half.

Care crossed on the half-hour mark and then again seven minutes later, with Ben Botica converting once and adding another penalty in injury time at the end of the first period.

Connacht ran out narrow winners in this fixture last season and the Irish province looked to be heading towards another famous upset when a sixth-minute Dave McSharry try was complimented by a fine kicking display from Dan Parks that saw the hosts lead 10-6 and then 19-9 after 27 minutes.

But Care's quick-fire brace handed Harlequins a 24-19 advantage at the break, with neither side able to add to their try-scoring tally in a nerve-wracking second half.

Parks closed the gap to just two points with a fifth penalty four minutes after the restart but it was as close as Connacht came to repeating their Round 1 win at Zebre.

Botica continued his assured form at fly-half to kick two more penalties after being asked to stand in for the injured Nick Evans as he finished with a personal tally of 20 points seven days after bagging 18 when replacing his fellow Kiwi against Biarritz.