Harlequins coach Rob Powell was happy to see his side "shut up shop" after hitting Catalans Dragons with an early blitz.
Robinson admits he was "hoping for better" from the Dragons
Harlequins coach Rob Powell was happy to see his side "shut up shop" after hitting Catalans Dragons with an early blitz in Cardiff.
Luke Gale scored two tries in the opening five minutes as Quins raced out to a 10-0 lead in the second match of Millennium Weekend.
The half-back slotted over one of his two conversion attempts and also landed a drop goal in the second half to give Powell a winning debut in his new job.
And the Quins boss insists there is still even more to come from the former Leeds academy player.
Combination
"He has got a good combination with Chad Randall but we are not going to get the best out of them offensively yet because we have spent a lot of pre-season trying to learn how to defend again," he said.
"As he gets more opportunities to play with the ball we will probably see more of the things he and Luke Dorn and Chad Randall can do.
"There were flashes of it in the first five minutes and then we shut up shop, which was pleasing.
"It wasn't very pretty but defensively we were good, that's what we were trying to be."
Powell, who never played the game professionally, added: "I don't want to make it too much about me. It is the boys who have done the stuff on the pitch today.
"We prepared them as best as we could and it is nice they have gone out there and got a win.
"They didn't get many last year and this builds confidence and shows the stuff we have done in pre-season can work."
The Dragons struggled to break down Harlequins' disciplined defence and had to wait until 78 minutes to score, debutant Damien Blanch scoring a consolation try in the right corner.
Their afternoon was made even worse by the loss of centre Setaimata Sa, who went off with a head injury sustained after a clash with Oliver Wilkes.
"He just got a concussion," said Dragons coach Trent Robinson. "He was close to going back on in the second half but the doctor ruled him out."
Disappointing start
Defeat was a disappointing start in the job for Australian Robinson, who previously coached in France at Toulouse.
"We missed the kick at the start of the game," he said. "They jumped out of the blocks on a couple of good plays and, with a couple of 50-50 calls, they got the jump on us early.
"As the game went on we were trying to find our combos with guys that haven't played with each other before.
"I was hoping for better but it is the reality of where we are at."
