Invited to experience action at The Stoop for the first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

My son has always been a bit of a Harlequins fan and has seen them several times, but never on home turf.

Against all expectations we found ourselves watching a 13-try thriller with twists and turns throughout the match.

And, until the last 10 minutes, either side was in with a chance of victory.

We arrived early and I was convinced I’d dressed sensibly but, despite the sunshine, the wind whistled round the ground so I invested in a pair of gloves from the club shop.

Suitably attired and with warmer hands, I next turned my attention to lunch and opted for a quite excellent roll from the van offering a hog roast – it really was very good.

There was a wide variety of food on offer and it all looked and smelt great.

At this point I remembered my wife’s generous offer to drive home and made the most of the opportunity by also visiting one of the many mobile bars available.

You pay an extra £1 for your plastic cup and can redeem the cash at a stand when you leave. I chose to hold onto it as a souvenir and later spotted several youngsters earning themselves a fiver or so by collecting up a few wayward cups.

By now it was time to settle in for the game and the crowd for this Anglo-Welsh Cup clash was building nicely.

The real surprise came when Worcester opened the scoring.

Whether the visitors were on better form than recent results suggested or whether Harlequins took a little while to get into their stride, what followed was a fascinating game of rugby in which the lead exchanged hands several times.

I don’t feel qualified to go into too much in-depth reporting on the game but the atmosphere in the stands was electric and to see the fans mixing in a way they would never do at an equivalent football match was fantastic.

After 13 excellent tries and some very attacking play from both sides, Quins made it 10 points from a possible 10 with a 45-37 victory.

Personally I was surprised the away side were able to stay in the game as long as they did. My son was equally surprised but also delighted Harlequins got the job done.

We made the short walk back to the car park invigorated by our experience of seeing this level of live rugby at such close quarters.

It’s only when you see it live you realise firstly, just how big the players are and, secondly how fit and tough they must be to put themselves through such an ordeal.

If you haven’t yet experienced live rugby at this level it’s high time you did, you’ll love it.

Harlequins return to Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, December 30 for Big Game 10. For tickets go to https://tickets.quins.co.uk