South African centre De Wet Barry may have made his Harlequins debut in Saturday's 10-8 win at London Irish, but it was 22-year-old Tosh Masson that caught director of rugby Dean Richards' eye.

A converted Chris Hala'Ufia try from a well worked scrum and a penalty from the return Adrian Jarvis got Quins EDF Energy Cup campaign to a winning start at the weekend.

It ended a run of six competitive matches on the road without a win and is Quins second triumph of the season over their west London rivals after their Guinness Premiership London Double header win at Twickenham in September.

Jordan Turner-Hall has long been at the head of the queue to step into Stuart Abbott's shoes following the former England international's retirement last week.

Richards believes Abbott's departure will be a big loss, but insists there is another young star capable of staking a claim for a coveted starting slot.

"We were looking back at some of the quality play we put together during the course of last season and it is amazing to see how many of those fantastic bits came through Stuart," he said.

"His reading of the game was first class as well as his timing. He will be missed and it is a shame he is having to retire early.

"De Wet acquitted himself well in the circumstances, but Tosh Masson is really impressing me more and more this season.

"His spell at London Welsh last year saw him get the ball in his hand and enjoy the chance to play.

"The A League doesn't give you that intensity week in, week out in the same way National Division One does, and the benefit is beginning to show."

Chris Brooker and James Percival made their first starts for the club at the weekend and their impact was not lost on Richards, who praised a hard working performance from his forwards.

"It was a hard fought victory that we thoroughly deserved and really wanted," he said.

"Irish put out virtually their strongest available side and I was happy with the way the rotation of our squad performed.

"The front-row played extremely well, the second-row performed well and the back-row combination really functioned for us."

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