No one expected this. Zinzan Brooke's debut as captain-coach of Harlequins, eagerly anticipated by supporters, began ignominiously on Saturday at Leicester, where the Londoners had won in five of eight previous league visits, with his side being routed by seven tries to nil.

Brooke, an All Black colossus for most of the past decade, was anonymous as a player and gave the impression that, as coach, he could do nothing to address Quins' problems - especially at the line-out.

Some of their defensive eccentricities defied belief and a great deal of work is needed if Brooke is to do for them what his fellow former All Black Wayne Shelford did for Northampton.

"There are no excuses. We were awful," admitted yet another former All Black, the Quins director of rugby John Gallagher. Leicester's coach Dean Richards summed up the match succinctly. "We played as a team. They didn't."

Indeed Leicester's team work, bearing in mind it was their first match of the season, was remarkable. While the Quins were frantically attempting to understand one another, the Tigers were as one whether playing their familiar but lethal mauling game or in their attack-from-anywhere mode that brought two spectacular tries.

"People have said the mauling game is out the window," said Richards with a laugh. "But I don't think that it is, especially when defences fan off and you can release the ball and give Austin (Healey) and the boys a bit of space and time."

It was these repeated drives, often set up by Fritz Van Heerden, that showed up Quins' deficiencies. To make matters worse, when forced to scrummage near their own line the Quins front five were invariably shunted backwards.

In the loose Neil Back ended the game in dominant fashion and the crowd's favourite, Richard Cockerill, unlucky to be sinbinned after a team warning, was outstanding.

"I've not enjoyed myself as much for a very long time as I did today," admitted Healey, who trailed his pack for perhaps the easiest try of his career.

While none of Quins' halfdozen newcomers really impressed, except John Schuster as a goal-kicker, Leicester's debutants Pat Howard and Tim Stimpson contributed significantly, the England full-back being especially sharp on the counter-attack.

Repeated failures by Schuster and the full-back David Officer to find touch gave the sure-handed Stimpson countless opportunities to win over the 13,000-strong crowd. It was Joel Stransky who really ran the show, though, concluding the try-feast with a score between the posts to take his tally to 19 points.

Earlier the Springbok had handled the ball three times in a spectacular 11-pass move that gave Leon Lloyd the first of two tries in six minutes.

Leicester: Stimpson; Lloyd, Potter (Overend, 78min), Howard, Ezulike (Lougheed, 73); Stransky, Healey; Jelley (Rowntree, 73), Cockerill, Garforth, Johnson (capt), Van Heerden (Fletcher, 78), Gustard, Back, Corry.

Harlequins: Officer; O'Leary, Power, Mensah (Going, 56), Luger; Schuster, Harries; Leonard, Wood, Halpin, Morgan, Davison, Bibby, Jenkins, Brooke (capt).

Referee: A Rowden (Berkshire).