Leicester Tigers bounced back from their opening weekend defeat to Leeds Tykes to sweep Harlequins aside 30-6 at Welford Road.

The Tigers showed they are in no mood to relinquish their title with a dominant display that saw Tim Stimpson move within a point of becoming the first to reach 1,000 in the competition.

Stimpson touched down in the final minute of a fine Tigers performance that reinforced the belief that it will still take something special to beat them at Welford Road.

Harlequins, who struggled against the threat of relegation for much of last season, produced a spirited performance.

But they were forced to submit to the forward power generated by inspirational Tigers captain Martin Johnson and his England international colleagues in Neil Back, Ben Kay, Graham Rowntree, Dorian West and Martin Corry as well as new signing Franck Tourniere.

Full-back Stimpson contributed 15 of the Tigers points, opening with a third-minute penalty which was cancelled out three minutes later by Harlequins fly-half David Slemen.

Stimpson's second penalty in 13th minute put Leicester 6-3 ahead and he was on target with a conversion 10 minutes later when the Harlequins pack were outmuscled by Leicester's rolling maul and Back capitalised to touch down.

Slemen reduced the deficit to seven points with a 27th-minute penalty and Harlequins came out for the second half with a renewed determination.

But despite the efforts of England centre Will Greenwood to find gaps in the Leicester defence, the champions held firm.

And when they stepped up the pace midway through the second half Harlequins were unable to keep them out.

A delightful dummy by fly-half Austin Healey almost took the England star in for a try and after he was hauled down just short of the line, replacement scrum-half Jamie Hamilton almost got over as he tried to emulate his half-back partner.

The pressure was too much for Quins' desperate defence, which was stretched beyond breaking point as Leicester moved the ball out wide for replacement number eight Josh Kronfeld to send Steve Booth over in the corner.

Booth had another chance when Healey found him with a cross-field kick but he was unable to grasp the opportunity.

The Quins pack succumbed again when Leicester's push took them back over their own line and Hamilton dropped on the ball to touch down.

Stimpson converted and then had the final say four minutes into injury time when another fine passing move stretched Harlequins for Booth to send the full-back over on the overlap near the corner flag.

Teams:

Leicester: Stimpson, Booth, Smith, Naufahu, Tuilagi, Healey, Ellis, Rowntree, West, Tournaire, M. Johnson, Kay, Corry, Back, W. Johnson.

Not Used: Freshwater, Chuter, Kronfeld, Short, J. Hamilton, Vesty, Hipkiss.

Tries: Back, Booth, J. Hamilton, Stimpson.

Cons: Stimpson 2.

Pens: Stimpson 2.

Harlequins: N. Williams, Moore, Greenwood, Bell, Gollings, D. Slemen, J. Powell, Leonard, Tiatia, Gomez, Rudzki, Davison, Sheriff, Sanderson, Diprose.

Not Used: Caputo, Starr, Evans, Miall, Bemand, Jewell, Satala.

Pens: D. Slemen 2.

Att: 15,387

Ref: Nigel Williams (Bryncoch).