Scrum coach Adam Jones admitted his Harlequins side found the appalling conditions frustrating as they beat Benetton 20-9 at The Stoop in the European Challenge Cup.

The relentless rain and wind stopped Paul Gustard’s side from playing the free-flowing attacking rugby they had planned to against the Pro14 side.

Quins were dogged by handling errors and turnovers but Jones was particularly pleased with how the forwards performed at the set-piece.

He said: “The weather obviously didn’t help with the way we would want to try to play the game.

“The players were obviously frustrated by the knock-ons and a couple of turnovers but on days like this it is more about what is going on above your head than down on the pitch that determines the match.

“Our scrum was pretty good, which pleased me. It is hard on days like this because there is so much set-piece, mauls and scrums – so it takes a lot out of you.

“But that’s why those boys up front do the job they do so you just have to get on with it.

“Apart from a silly penalty from a scrum in front of the posts in the first half, I was pleased with how they performed.”

Harlequins are now in pole position to qualify from Pool 5 after their victory against the Italian side, avenging their defeat in Treviso in the previous round.

First-half tries from prop Lewis Boyce and outside centre Joe Marchant proved crucial to the win, as the hosts raced to an early lead.

Three penalties by Ian McKinley for the visitors, as well as one for Quins from James Lang, meant it was 17-9 at the break.

Marcus Smith’s penalty saw the only points added to the scoreboard after the break, where Jones admits he thought the visitors were on top.

“They came at us well in the second half, stuck to their gameplan and forced some mistakes from us,” Jones said.

“But we held on and got the win. We’re not getting too excited about it but it sets up the rest of the European campaign nicely now with us going top of the group - and we know that two more wins will get us through.”

Jones is now looking forward to this weekend’s Premiership Rugby match with Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.

Quins will be looking to continue their domestic form from the last round of games when they robbed Exeter Chiefs of their unbeaten record.

Their opponents are without a league win since the start of October and are coming off back-to-back defeats to French outfit Racing 92.

Jones said: “Yes there is plenty to work on but the win puts us in a good mood going back into the Premiership and now we are looking forward to going to Leicester next weekend. 

"There is always a lot of talk around Big Game at this time of year but Leicester away is as big as anything in the Premiership and we have got to get ourselves in the right frame of mind for that.”