Wasps 13 Harlequins 38: Hot reception for pioneering London clubs in Abu Dhabi

The match was the first domestic fixture to be staged overseas and was played in perfect conditions in the luxurious grounds of the Emirates Palace Hotel.

Designated home side Wasps agreed to move the fixture between the two Aviva Premiership sides from Adams Park, but perhaps quickly came to regret that decision as they found themselves on the back foot under the floodlights of the temporary 5,000-seat stadium.

Karl Dickson crossed twice for the victors, with further efforts by George Lowe, Ceri Jones and Sam Smith ensuring a bonus-point win that takes them to the summit of Pool Four with only one round of games remaining.

Yesterday's win, which saw Quins stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight games, was achieved despite the absence of a host of star names.

With Danny Care and Nick Easter on England duty, and Mike Brown, Joe Marler, Chris Robshaw, Ugo Monye and George Robson with the Saxons, it was a largely second-string wide which swept aside their Aviva Premiership rivals. And O'Shea was delighted with the performance.

"On a day like today, when the conditions are like they are, you can get a few tries, which we did," he said.

"We're really happy with the performance. Seven guys away between England and England Saxons, another 14 injured, I thought the guys did really well."

After falling behind to an early Wasps penalty, Quins hit the front on seven minutes thanks to a superbly-taken try by Dickson, the scrum-half cutting in from the left touchline and evading a couple of tackles before crossing.

Lowe added a second on 19 minutes before a Nick Evans penalty and a further try from Jones just before the break established a

24-8 half-time lead that Quins never looked in danger of relinquishing.

Asked about the team's impressive recent form, O'Shea insisted no one in the camp was getting carried away.

He said: "If you take your eye off the ball, it can be lost very quickly. There's a great buzz when you're winning games."

Wasps replied with tries from Tom Varndell and Joe Launchbury and a Mark Atkinson penalty, but were never really in the contest after a damaging opening half.

Director of rugby Tony Hanks was without England stars Joe Simpson, Simon Shaw, Joe Worsley, Riki Flutey and Tim Payne, but refused to use that as an excuse for the below-par display.

"We've fallen back into the pattern we had at the beginning of the season – performing one week and not the next," he said.