Nine tries and 59 points would usually leave an attack coach swooning – but Nick Evans says Harlequins still have plenty of work to do if they are to dine at the Premiership’s top table.

Quins had a bonus point wrapped up inside 26 minutes against Gloucester on Saturday as they flew into a 24-0 lead courtesy of tries from Luke Northmore, Mike Brown, Cadan Murley and Danny Care.

But the struggling visitors hit back either side of the interval at The Stoop to level matters with three converted scores and a penalty of their own.

Care’s second try and one for Tyrone Green restored the hosts’ lead and they were able to pull away following Matt Banahan’s red card, with Alex Dombrandt crossing twice and Northmore completing a brace of his own.

“We came out hard – maybe too hard,” Evans said. “We went 24-0 up and stopped working at the non-glamorous stuff, which was a bit disappointing.

“When you score 24 points early, the game opens up and there’s a lot of space. You start looking for that extra pass and forcing things a bit more.

“We started to be a little bit inaccurate and sloppy. We wrestled it back well and dominated the last quarter.

“To score 60 points against anyone is brilliant and the way we regained momentum was good but we just can’t have that 10-15 minute lapse.

“That will cost us games against the sides at the top of the table. We got away with it today and played some really good stuff but we can’t give teams ways back into the game.”

Evans was impressed by the performance of Northmore, who was due to be among the replacements before a late promotion into the No.13 jersey after Joe Marchant was called up to England’s Six Nations squad as injury cover for Henry Slade.

The centre made the most of his opportunity but Evans knows the overall performance of his side will have to improve if they are to come away with anything against league leaders Bristol Bears next weekend.

“Luke (Northmore) was training to start on the bench but he came in and did really well,” he said.

“Next week, we need to be better in all areas – attack, defence, set piece, breakdown – than we were today.

“Bristol are a very good team and they are top for a reason. They are well coached with some fantastic players.

“We’ll enjoy this win, rest up and make sure we fix what we need to fix ahead of an exciting challenge.”