Quins fell to their third straight defeat at Bristol on Saturday and now travel to Gloucester looking for their first away league win in over a year. These are worrying times for the West London outfit.

An Ian Madigan inspired Bristol made the opening day win over Sale Sharks seem a distant memory and leaves Paul Gustard’s men in sixth place, helped by the five bonus points they’ve amassed.

The bonus points are papering over cracks. Huge cracks.

Here we assess where it went wrong in the 20-13 defeat and we look into the problems surrounding Chris Robshaw’s men.

Breakdown from Ashton Gate:

It was a direct and accurate start by Quins, possibly learning from their late rally against Bath last week. A mistake by Luke Morahan lead to a sniping try by Danny Care as Quins bright start was rewarded.

The tone for the opening 20minutes was set by a strong carry from outside centre Nathan Earle into the Bristol 22 in middle of the field. When the ref stopped play he threw the ball into Madigans face – goading a reaction. Handbags ensued. Earle must regret it, as it buoyed Madigan who was near faultless thereafter, leading to a MOTM performance, whilst Earle looked subdued.

If the big ex Saracens man does that he has to back it up. He didn’t.

Bristol picked up pace mid-way through the first half. Their locks carried well but had no imagination. Quins seem to be coping ok and matched the physicality until a break down the lefthand side by the electric Leiua which lead to a harsh Ben Tapuai yellow card.

Although a try wasn’t scored during Tapuai’s stint in the sin-bin the game changed. Quins seemed tired and Bristol touched down through Piers O’Connor and cemented the pendulum swing as they went in at the break one point ahead.

Bristol bossed the middle third of the game. Quins couldn’t compete with the backrow nouse and the direct hard carrying from Bristol in the tough conditions.

Quins early dominance in the scrum faded and Bristol’s lead grew as Quins ill-discipline became the focal point of the game. This is something that needs to be addressed by Gustard before they get a name for themselves. Two yellow cards for Joe Marler and substitute Paul Lasike for moments of stupidity reflect this. Marler was lucky not to see red for his needless forearm to the face of Andy Uren if Sergio Parisse’s red a few weeks back is anything to go by.

Quins looked a lot sharper when Charlie Mulchrone came on at scrum half, increasing calls for a starting berth. Danny Care still has class, it's just a shame we have to choose between them.

James Lang at 10 started well with the boot but produced little in attack, indicating the problems could lie within the pack that provide the platform for the back to operate. ( It also shows that the early season form of Marcus Smith could also be a result of the front eight). This problem resulted with Tapuai, Marchant, Earle and Moore barely touching the ball outside the 10.

Quins can’t expect ‘flyers’ like they do have to produce in defence for 80minutes and let the attacking game pass them by. If you’re going to keep the ball in the tight then why field a backline of speedsters not renowned for their defence?

 In a game where the West Country wind and rain played its part, the Bears’ fly half’s experience and nouse won the day over a Quins team that is really lacking in any sort of international class beyond Kyle Sinckler (who looked as though his mind was elsewhere for most of the game).

These are worrying times for the men from South West London.