If you said before the match that one team were slow and unimaginative while their opponents were quick, incisive and inventive; that one team were comfortable and slick with the ball in hand while their opponents were toothless and error-prone; that one team relied on their kicker to score four penalties; the other side scored two fast and flowing tries - you would have been forgiven for presuming this match fell into line with long-held perceptions: Harlequins the attackers, Saracens the husslers. 

But for 80 minutes on a cold and bitter afternoon at Allianz Park these two sides swapped roles.

A try in each half for Saracens from Schalk Brits and Will Fraser as well as five penalties from Owen Farrell condemned Harlequins to their sixth Premiership defeat of the season and stretches the Men in Black’s lead at the top of the table to five points.

Sarries recalled five England players into their line-up as Alex Goode, Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Farrell and Mako Vunipola all started while Scotland captain Kelly Brown also returned.

It was Vunipola who caused the visitors the most problems early on as twice he barged his way through the Quins defence to earn his side a penalty, both of which Farrell struck home.

Nick Evans was also on target twice before the 20 minute mark but it was the home side that continued to dominate proceedings.

Saracens were quicker, more ambitious and more clinical with the ball in their hands and seemed able to punch holes through the Quins rearguard almost at will.

Farrell, chest puffed out with Six Nations swagger, looked in confident mood too and was on the mark again twice from the tee to put Saracens 12-6 in front.

David Strettle and Ashton were both darting inside off their wings to great effect and an unusually porous Quins defence eventually caved in just before the half hour mark.

Alistair Hargreaves broke through a gap before passing behind his back to Kelly Brown. Five metres away from the line Sarries moved quickly and Farrell found Barritt who drove for the line but was held up.

Just as the momentum looked to have died Brits took the ball on, spun through a Quins tackle before putting down for the opening try. Farrell missed the conversion but the Men in Black led 17-6.

A loss of concentration from the restart allowed Evans the chance to cut the deficit to 17-9 which the Quins man duly did before half time and the defending champions started better in the second period too, reducing the gap further after the restart with another penalty.

But just as Quins looked to be finding their feet Saracens cut through again. Ernst Joubert neatly offloaded to Brown who fed Goode before Ashton darted through. Quins gave away a penalty but Saracens played on and Farrell, glancing left, demanded quick ball before applying a beautifully weighted cross-field kick which Fraser duly collected and placed over the line.

It was fast, fluent and spontaneous rugby - the sort Harlequins would have been proud of - and Farrell added the conversion to put the Men in Black firmly in command with a 24-12 lead.

Quins prodded and probed as the second half went on but the visitors were never at their rhythmic best and Saracens constricted the flow of the game with relative ease.

With ten minutes to go Farrell kicked his fifth penalty of the match to all but extinguish any lasting Quins hopes but one blot on the Sarries copy book came nine minutes from time as Ashton was yellow carded for a straight arm tackle that appeared clumsy rather than malicious. 

The England winger looked relieved with his punishment as he left the field and without him Saracens were forced to draw upon their more renowned qualities of resilience in the latter stages as they cemented their position not only at the top of the table but as favourites to claim the title.

The Men in Black may now afford themselves the luxury of resting some of their first team players with a home draw in the playoffs all but secured and a Heineken Cup quarter-final against Ulster just a fortnight away.

Before that match at Twickenham though Saracens face a trip to London Wasps next Saturday.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle (Wyles, 40) 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth (de Kock, 56) 1 Mako Vunipola (Gill, 68) 2 Schalk Brits (Smit, 66) 3 Matt Stevens (du Plessis, 68) 4 Steve Borthwick ©, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (Kruis, 66) 6 Kelly Brown (Wray, 60) 7 Will Fraser, 8 Ernst Joubert

Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 George Kruis, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Chris Wyles

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall (Lowe, 55) 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (Dickson, 58) 1. Joe Marler, 2. Joe Gray, 3. James Johnston, 4. Charlie Matthews, 5. George Robson, 6. Tom Guest (Fa'asavalu, 52) 7. Chris Robshaw (C), 8. Nick Easter

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 George Lowe