Despite this, the tour pales to insignificance when it is realised the Pretoria club spent four weeks in East Africa playing eight matches and another in Rhodesia on the way home.

The next two matches were played at the same location, beating the host club 16–0 the next day and earning a 9-all tie against Kenya Central Province on Wednesday 17 May.

In the second ever RWC final at Twickenham in November 1991, seven Harlequin players appeared for England (Will Carling, Simon Halliday, Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Paul Ackford, Mickey Skinner, Peter Winterbottom) and Troy Coker played in the Australian pack.

They secured their return to the Premiership on 1 April with four matches to spare, crushing Sedgley Park 65–8 while the only team with a mathematical chance of pipping them for the title, Bedford, lost 26–23 at Exeter.

Chris Robshaw played a leading role in the 2007–08 season as Harlequins won 12 of their 22 Guinness Premiership matches and finished 6th in the league.

Players to leave Quins at the end of the 2007–08 season were Adrian Jarvis, Hal Luscombe, Chris Hala'ufia, Paul Volley, Nicholas Spanghero, Simon Keogh, Ricky Nebbett and Ryan Manyika.

For the 2008–09 season Quins signed five new players; London Irish centre Gonzalo Tiesi, Ulster Back-row forward Neil McMillan, Auckland Blues fly-half Nick Evans, Tongan international Epi Taione who plays on wing, centre and back row and Fijian utility back Waisea Luveniyali.

Quins also hosted their first "Big Game" at Twickenham over the Christmas period, playing out a 26–26 draw with Leicester Tigers in front of 52000 people.

They lost 5–6 at the Stoop to eventual tournament winners Leinster Rugby at the quarter-final stage, a match in which the infamous Bloodgate Scandal took place.

This included a historic win away against Munster in the semi-final, where they became only the second club to beat the Irish province at home in a European Competition.

A series of several closely fought wins including a try bonus point in the penultimate game against Exeter Chiefs ensured they would face a winner takes all home tie against Bath in the final round of the regular season.

[18] Harlequins beat Castres Olympique in the first ever European Rugby Champions Cup match before an away win at Wasps and defeating Leinster at home.

Quins put in a very strong performance in the group stage of the Challenge Cup, topping their pool and winning all of their first five games with a bonus point.

[20] They fought back from 18 to 30 down against London Irish to win and reach a home semi-final against Grenoble, they comfortably won that game to set up a final against Montpellier in Lyon.

They slipped to a 26–9 deficit and got within 7 points but Ben Botica inexplicably kicked the ball out of play in his last game before heading to Montpellier to hand his new club the title, leaving Quins as runners-up and out of the Champions Cup for a second consecutive season.

[22] In the Challenge Cup, Harlequins put together an impressive run, topping their group before edging Worcester Warriors in the quarter-final to book a semi-final trip to Clermont Auvergne.

Harlequins made 32 personnel changes after the 2018–19 season, as Gustard looked to freshen up his squad, and after only winning one of their first four games, Quins would remain unbeaten for the rest of the calendar year.

Following the resumption of the season, Quins recorded solid form to finish comfortably in sixth and earn qualification for the Champions Cup.

Nonetheless, Gustard's hopes of a first trophy were dashed as the London club were beaten 27–19 against Sale in the Premiership Cup Final despite leading for most of the game.

On 19 June 2021, they played league leaders Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate, conceding 28 points in the first half an hour of the match to trail 28–0 before half-time.

Harlequins went on to undertake the biggest comeback in Premiership Rugby history to finish the match 31–31 after 80 minutes, going on to win 36–43 after extra time to book their place in the final.

[26] On 26 June 2021, Harlequins played Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham, defeating the incumbent champions 38–40 to win their second Premiership title.

[30] This was on top of a number of other signings including England international, former Wasps captain and Harlequins academy member Joe Launchbury who joined the club on a multi-year deal.

New signing Jarrod Evans had seemingly won the game in the final minutes by extending Harlequins' lead only for the try to be ruled out for foul play.

Many of the team's England and South Africa players, including Marcus Smith, Danny Care and André Esterhuizen were still returning to the starting XV having played at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

[40] In December 2024, Harlequins CEO, Laurie Dalrymple, revealed the club were looking into hosting an exhibition match overseas with Singapore being the ideal location.

The METTLE pilot was evaluated by St Mary's University and the programme was found to have had a positive impact on young people's self-confidence, wellbeing, decision making and mental resilience.

[55] The affair was dubbed by many in the media "Bloodgate" with three proven incidents of the medical staff colluding with former director of rugby Dean Richards to abuse the blood-substitution rule.

The rule was brought in to help with player welfare but was shown to have been abused by former policeman Richards, along with Dr Wendy Chapman, who was given an official warning by the Medical Council.

In July 2022, The Harlequins announced that the club had signed a multi-year partnership deal with the British sportswear brand Castore ahead of the 2022–23 season.