Fly-halves from famous rugby families are suddenly everywhere. Owen Farrell at Saracens and George Ford at Leicester have already made positive impressions at senior level and on Saturday it was the turn of Ben Botica, the 23-year-old son of the former Wigan and All Blacks stand-off Frano.

Harlequins will be without their injured playmaker Nick Evans in Connacht this weekend but his deputy is already making a name for himself. As nerveless Heineken Cup debuts go, Botica's performance was right up there. Not only did he help his side score 27 unanswered points after half-time to secure a crucial bonus-point victory, he also seems to possess a big-game temperament to match his left-footed kicking prowess.

While Quins have endured disappointing defeats to Saracens and Exeter, their European campaign could not have started much better. It helped that Biarritz were missing their two totems, Dimitri Yachvili and Imanol Harinordoquy, but sticking four tries past their main rivals in Pool 3 allows Quins to look ahead with genuine optimism, assuming they avoid a repeat of their ruinous defeat in Galway last season. Even if Evans's ankle problem does sideline him for a number of weeks, Botica's boot and calm distribution skills will bother plenty of opponents. "I wasn't nervous at all," said the newcomer. "For some reason it just felt good."

He is also hungry to make a lasting impression having been rejected by the Auckland Blues. Last season he found himself playing in the French second division for Périgueux, having also represented Biarritz Under-21s during a previous "life experience" spell in Europe, but he holds a British passport having lived in England for eight years as a child, when his father was playing rugby league for Wigan.

As a result, Botica junior is open to the idea of representing England one day, an ambition which may raise eyebrows among the Farrells and Fords of this world. "I'm pretty sure I'm eligible but it's one step at a time. I just want to play consistently for Harlequins and take my chances when they come. My old man taught me how to kick but if you're not playing well teams aren't going to pick you, no matter who your father was or what your last name is."

The youngster also had the advantage of playing behind a pack stung by their travails in Exeter the previous week. Nick Easter and Joe Marler were both outstanding and Danny Care and Mike Brown also made compelling cases for inclusion in England's starting lineups this autumn.

Easter, for now, remains on the outer but, along with Exeter's Richie Baxter, continues to blaze a trail for thirty-something No8s. "He'll keep on knocking on the door until someone answers," said O'Shea. "He's still desperate to play for England."

It may also interest Stuart Lancaster that all four of Quins' try-scorers were English-qualified. He knows plenty about Care and Jordan Turner-Hall, while the hooker Rob Buchanan looks another handy prospect in the absence of the England summer tourist Joe Gray. The latter may well miss the autumn Tests with an abdominal strain which threatens to sideline him for between three and eight weeks.

Quins's overriding priority, though, is to avenge last season's Galway mugging. O'Shea acknowledges that "the date Jan 20th is etched in our memory" and Botica already detects a sense of steely purpose in the dressing-room. "I'm sure the boys are going to be up for it, having lost to them last year and being kicked out of the tournament." On this evidence, Connacht should batten down the batches.

Harlequins: Brown; Williams, Hopper, Turner-Hall, Monye (Stegmann, 61); Evans (Botica, 18), Care; Marler (Lambert, 76), Buchanan, Johnston (Collier, 77), Kohn, Robson, Fa'asavalu (Guest, 57), Robshaw (capt; Ward, 76), Easter.

Tries: Care, Buchanan,Turner-Hall, Stegmann. Cons: Evans, Botica 3. Pens: Evans, Botica 3.

Biarritz: Balshaw; Ngwenya, Haylett-Petty (Traille, 65), Burotu (Gimenez, 54), Brew; Peyrelongue, Lesgourgues; Barcella (Blaauw, 60), Heguy, Gomez Kodela (Synaeghel, 71), E Lund, Dubarry (Taele, 52), M Lund (capt), Lauret, Gray (Guyot, 35).

Try: Heguy. Con: Peyrelongue. Pens: Peyrelongue 2.

Sin-bin: Haylett-Petty 17.

Referee: G Clancy (Ireland). Att: 13,815.