Two tries by rising star Joe Marchant helped Harlequins extend their impressive record in home matches to nine wins out of nine in all competitions this season but they needed to hold off a rousing late fight back from Gloucester in the ninth edition of the annual “Big Game” at Twickenham.

The 20-year-old centre Marchant twice picked off gaps in Gloucester’s defence from set-piece moves with the turn of pace and eye for a running line that has seen the former Junior World Cup winner picked by England's head coach Eddie Jones in national-team training squads in recent months.

And when Marchant’s second score was converted by Scotland fly-half Ruaridh Jackson to put Harlequins ahead by 18 points with 58 minutes gone it looked as if Gloucester’s serial inability to garner points from attacking line-outs would doom them to defeat.

Joe Marchant is congratulated by team mates following his first try (Getty)

But the Cherry and Whites’ introduction of flanker Matt Kvesic and scrum-half Willi Heinz brought a renewed cutting edge and extra continuity, and tries for full-back James Hook and replacement prop Motu Matu’u had Quins sweating over their unbeaten sequence, in front of the festive period’s biggest domestic sporting crowd in Britain of 77,567.

There had been 10 tries shared in a 39-all draw in the corresponding fixture between the same two clubs here a year ago but the first half this time was a slow burner as the respective packs struggled to produce clean ball for the backs.

Harlequins came off better in the battle of the tight forwards, with their England props Joe Marler and Kyle Sinckler prominent as they forced a couple of penalties in the scrum on the way to an 11-3 lead at the interval.

Gloucester had two superb chances to score in the opening quarter when they kicked penalties to touch near the Quins goalline but on each occasion the home pack disrupted possession and no points accrued.

Mike Brown is held up (Getty)

That wastefulness may explain why the Cherry and Whites show little sign of threatening the top four positions in the Premiership, as well as going winless on this ground in seven visits since 2003.

For their part, Harlequins would be nailed-on Premiership play-off contenders if they could reproduce their outstanding home form when they are on the road.

Their strong England contingent is a mixed blessing, given the regular clashes between Test and league fixtures.

Chris Robshaw took a rest for this match with a slight shoulder niggle but he will expect to be among those named in Jones’s latest elite squad this Saturday, along with Marler and No.8 Jack Clifford whose chances of starting against France here on 4 February have been enhanced by the unfortunate injuries suffered in recent weeks by Saracens’ Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy.

It took until the 27th minute before any movement on the scoreboard as Quins took the lead with a smooth move straight from the training ground. Danny Care, the Harlequins scrum-half and captain, plotted the progress of a prime attacking position with Clifford, and when the ball eventually emerged after two resets of the packs, it worked a treat.

Mike Brown and Marland Yarde were deployed as decoys on the short side, while Care and Jackson mounted a raid the other way and sent Marchant hurtling through the Gloucester cover.

Marland Yarde is tackled by Matt Scott (Getty)

Greig Laidlaw kicked a penalty for Gloucester and Jackson collected two for Quins before the visitors’ England wing Jonny May was sent to the sin bin for handling in an offside position - although a blushing referee JP Doyle briefly astonished May when he mistakenly brought out a red card instead of a yellow one.

It left Gloucester short-handed at the start of the second half, and Care’s swoop on a loose kick made them pay as Brown’s grubber made a try for Clifford within 30 seconds of the resumption.

Jackson converted and added a penalty on the other side of a driving try for Gloucester’s No 8 Gareth Evans, converted by Laidlaw.

Marchant’s try when Harlequins’ slick line-out provided a telling contrast to Gloucester’s bungling effort of a rolling maul at the other end of the field.

But there was late drama as the excellent Clifford was sent to the sin bin for a lunging intervention off the floor, and Gloucester belatedly worked out how to keep a line-out drive going as far as the Quins goal line.

Danny Care bids to get away from a host of Gloucester players (Getty)

As normal time clicked down to zero, a super-smart interception by Care from Heinz’s pass snuffed a Gloucester attack out.

But the general scrappiness continued to the end as Care could not find enough oomph to boot the ball dead and it needed determined tracking by Quins of May’s desperate raid to prevent one last scoring twist.

Harlequins: tries: Marchant 2, Clifford; conversions: Jackson 2; penalties: Jackson 3.

Gloucester: tries: Evans, Hook, Matu’u; conversions: Laidlaw 2, Burns; penalty: Laidlaw.

Harlequins: M Brown; M Yarde, J Marchant, J Roberts, T Visser; R Jackson, D Care (capt); J Marler, R Buchanan, K Sinckler, G Merrick, C Matthews, J Chisholm, L Wallace, J Clifford.

Replacements: O Evans, D Ward, W Collier, S South, G Naoupu, K Dickson, T Swiel, A Alofa.

Gloucester: J Hook; C Sharples, M Scott, B Twelvetrees, J May; B Burns, G Laidlaw (capt); P McAllister, R Hibbard, J Hohneck, T Savage, M Galarza, R Moriarty, J Rowan, G Evans.

Replacements: Y Thomas, M Matu’u, S Ma’afu, J Thrush, M Kvesic, W Heinz, A Symons, H Purdy.