The proclaimed ambition of Worcester Warriors, reiterated yesterday, to be the best club in Europe on and off the field must first begin in the Guinness Premiership. But there, at the end of the first tranche of fixtures, they linger second from last as Harlequins, in a madcap first half, recorded their third successive win at Sixways.

It is no wonder that Harlequins cannot sustain their crackerjack style for the full 80 minutes but while the mood is on them, they take some stopping. Three tries within five minutes before the first quarter had even reached its conclusion gave them the whip hand, the bonus point had been secured before the interval and although they were breathing hard by the final whistle, they had vaulted into the top four.

But they will be concerned that David Strettle, who has shown glimpses of his best international form, had to leave the field with a foot injury. He will have a scan today but given that the wing suffered two metatarsal injuries that kept him out of last year’s World Cup and all but the first few minutes of this year’s RBS Six Nations Championship, Harlequins will not want to lose him again.

It was some compensation that their other wing, Ugo Monye, fast and increasingly powerful, was responsible for two of their tries, the one a mirror of the other in that the wing just reached the ball before it went dead from a kick ahead by Chris Malone.

Worcester’s rally after the interval (Harlequins suffered a similar second-half implosion against London Irish last weekend) earned them a losing bonus point but only Bristol remain below them in the table.

Harlequins, moreover, had to hold out for the last five minutes while Tom Guest served time in the sin-bin for a deliberate knockdown but Worcester, over-anxious, could not retain possession as they battered away in the opposing 22. They, too, suffered casualties, knee injuries to Kai Horstmann and Dale Rasmussen that could keep both players out of action for some weeks.

“To leave here with five points, I don’t think many sides do that,” Dean Richards, the Harlequins director of rugby, said. Worcester drew first blood, an attack from his own 22 by Charlie Fellows, on his debut, finding support from Sam Tuitupou and Matthew Jones, who finished the match with 18 points, dropped a neat goal.

But that drew a frenzy of scoring from Harlequins, their rugby more akin to the sevens field. Video confirmation was needed for three tries, the first to determine whether Monye had touched down properly, the second to ensure that no defender had reached beneath the ball as Gonzalo Tiesi veered to the posts from a delightfully delayed pass from Danny Care.

From the restart they scored again, the ball flying through Harlequins hands like a hot potato before Malone’s inside pass put Mike Brown over. Jones stemmed the tide with a penalty goal and a try from a five-metre scrum, the fly half finding a gap in the defence uncharacteristic of the Harlequins back row.

But before the interval there were ten more points for Harlequins, Malone kicking a penalty and then launching a wicked kick into acres of space. Chris Latham steamed across field in defence but Monye has far more speed than the Australia full back and finished in style.

It might have been worse, since Malone hit the post with another penalty (he missed two more in the final quarter which would have put the game beyond reach). But to Worcester’s credit, within two minutes of the restart they created a try for Miles Benjamin behind a lineout and the wing might have done greater damage had his colleagues capitalised on a penetrating midfield run. But, as has happened too frequently this season, Worcester could not finish what they started.

Scorers: Worcester Warriors: Tries: Jones (27min), Benjamin (42). Conversions: Jones 2. Penalty goals: Jones 2 (17, 75). Dropped goal: Jones (6). Harlequins: Tries: Monye 2 (8, 36), Tiesi (11), Brown (13). Conversions: Malone 2. Penalty goals: Malone 2 (35, 48).

Scoring sequence (Worcester Warriors first): 3-0, 3-5, 3-12, 3-17, 6-17, 13-17, 13-20, 13-27 (half-time), 20-27, 20-30, 23-30.

Worcester Warriors: C Latham; C Fellows, D Rasmussen (rep: A Grove, 65min), S Tuitupou, M Benjamin; M Jones, R Powell (rep: M Powell, 61); M Mullan, A Lutui (rep: C Fortey, 71), T Taumoepeau (rep: C Horsman, 52), G Rawlinson, C Gillies, K Horstmann (rep: M Cox, 36), T Wood, N Talei.

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle (rep: C Amesbury, 36), G Tiesi, J Turner-Hall, U Monye; C Malone, D Care (rep: A Gomarsall, 71); C Jones, G Botha (rep: T Fuga, 64), M Ross, O Kohn, J Evans, C Robshaw, W Skinner, T Guest (sin-bin 75).

Referee: W Barnes.

Attendance: 9,222.