Samoan powerhouse George Harder ran in two tries as Harlequins gave themselves a magnificent chance of reaching the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-finals with a crushing victory over Brive.

A second leg trip to the Parc Municipal des Sports now awaits Mark Evans' side but on today's evidence they should have few problems reaching the last four of a competition they won in 2001.

Quins' victory must rank as their best performance of the season given that Brive are top of their pool in the French championship and Evans will have been delighted by the ruthless streak shown by his side.

With their set-piece functioning beautifully, they were able to build good field positions which were quickly converted into points in the face of some determined resistance from the French side.

Brive's defence crumbled in the second half as Quins piled on the pressure, crossing through Harder, Tani Fuga and Simon Keogh to compliment Harder's first half try with the former Leeds winger looking at his explosive best.

He landed the man of the match award - his strong running continues to blast wholes in opposition defences - while fly-half Paul Burke displayed his usual accuracy with the boot, weighing in with 21 points.

Brive's response was a solitary try from Jerome Naves and a Sebastien Laloo penalty, giving coach Eric Alegret scant reason to celebrate as he watched his side collapse to a humiliating defeat.

Quins were close to full strength with Evans restoring Jason Leonard, Pat Sanderson, Ace Tiatia, Andre Vos and Ugo Monye to the starting line-up after easing past Montauban in the second round last weekend.

And the extra firepower up front made an immediate impact as the Quins pack won the ball from their own kick-off and continued to charge upfield with second row Jim Evans punching a large hole in Brive's defence.

Evans' bullocking run created space on the right and the ball was swiftly fed to Harder who ignored the supporting Gavin Duffy to batter his way over in typical fashion with just 43 second on the clock.

Burke missed the conversion only to make amends by slotting a 12th-minute penalty and a long-range drop-goal as Quins racked up a commanding 11-point lead, but Brive were doing their best to claw back some of the deficit.

They threatened in the 21st minute when Tim Bowker burst through, offloading to full-back Jerome Carrat who showed great hands before finding Jerome Naves, but the winger was stopped five metres short of the line.

And they produced another flash of brilliance soon after when a perfectly-executed move in the centres sent Laharrague racing through, but he was collared by full-back Duffy as Quins' defence recovered in the nick of time.

In contrast to Brive's inability to register any points, Burke kicked a second penalty following another productive attack, although in truth they should have bagged a try with Harder's neglect of a clear two-man overlap proving criminal.

Fly-half Laloo missed his second shot at goal shortly before half time and Brive's problems deepened in injury time when hooker Benoit Bassoul was dispatched to the sinbin by referee Hugh Watkins for using his hands in the ruck.

The visiting fans were finally given reason to cheer when Laloo nudged over a penalty with the last kick before the interval but only six minutes had elapsed in the second half when Quins ran in their second try.

A midfield switch involving Keogh unlocked the visitors' defence allowing Harder to dash through and he made light work of Carrat as the last line of defence to cross under the posts. Burke slotted the simple conversion.

Quins continued to press and were rewarded as Brive's defence began to open up with increasing ease, resulting in a third try as Burke found the time to float over a long pass for hooker Fuga to cross in the corner.

Burke improved the score and landed two penalties which sandwiched Laharrague's try but Quins had the last word as Keogh sprinted home from 40 metres and Burke converted to complete the rout.