Harlequins look set to bow out of the Heineken Cup after losing 9-8 to Connacht at the Sportsground in Galway on Friday.
With Toulouse losing in Gloucester, victory would have put Quins into the quarter-finals but three first-half Niall O'Connor penalties were enough for Connacht to secure their first ever Heineken Cup win.
Connacht won their first match since September and ended a dismal 14-game losing run to all but dump Harlequins out of Europe.
At wet and windy Galway, playing into a driving gale and heavy rain, Harlequins would have been content going in at half-time only four points in arrears.
The Londoners adopted keep-ball tactics in the first half, knowing that tactical kicking was not an option, and they managed to turn possession into points in the eighth minute thanks to a try from Sam Smith.
Smith grounded the ball in the right-hand corner following a neat wrap around move involving Nick Evans and Jordan Turner-Hall.
Connacht offered little in attack but O'Connor's boot gave them a narrow half-time advantage.
Having weathered the storm well in the first 40 minutes, Harlequins dominated the early stages of the second period and they should have been in front but Ugo Monye was unable to gather in Evans' chip kick ahead over the try-line.
Quins were then embarrassed at scrum-time, losing control at the base five metres from the home side's line when they had previously rejected kickable attempts at goal.
Connacht continued to tackle themselves to a standstill, Harlequins pounding away at a brickwall defence without any joy for the entirety of the third quarter.
A three-pointer from Evans just after the hour-mark provided the first points of a tense second half, but the Kiwi was unable to convert his next opportunity and Harlequins were left to reflect on an opportunity missed given Toulouse's shock defeat at the hands of Gloucester.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Pens: O'Connor 3
For Harlequins:
Try: Smith
Pens: Evans
Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy (capt), 14 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 13 Kyle Tonetti, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Tiernan O'Halloran, 10 Niall O'Connor, 9 Paul O'Donohoe, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Ray Ofisa, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Michael Swift, 3 Ronan Loughney, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Dylan Rogers, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Eoin McKeon, 21 Dave Moore, 22 Miah Nikora, 23 Henry Fa'afili.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 Tomas Vallejos, 3 James Johnston, 2 Chris Brooker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Tim Fairbrother, 19 Olly Kohn, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Richard Bolt, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Tom Casson.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Comments
pog_mahone says...
Hmmm - Pogmahon was it you who called it or me... for what it's worth I've tried a couple of times to change my name. No matter... Anyway, I was there and it was the best ever for atmosphere and tension (and there have been some good ones). It waas the elements and not knowing how to play them that defeated Quins - Duffy in particular put in a master class performance in how to play damp and windy conditions. The effort put in by the pack was unbelievable, Loughney came off with about 20 mins to go and he looked like he was walking out of a car crash as he came off....
Damp aardvark, it's one thing to see a sidelined player opportunistically tapping a lineout ball, it's quite another to see a staff member in his bib going out of his way to prevent a quick lineout - only a small step away from bloogate to my mind. Quins have learned nothing it seems.... Disappointed in O'Shea, hopefully that member of staff was severly disciplined for bringing Quins reputation back into disrepute.
Posted 18:47 22nd January 2012
damo says...
Leinster Goy, I am talking about this year, the squad was depleted with injury and have limited resources so a lot of the 15 have played every game this season pretty much the opposite of Leinster, as for Bloodgate that was 1 stupid incident and lessons were learnt, I think Leinster should win this competition but think Quins are far from disgraced in this cup for beating Toulose in France and other good performances
Posted 15:00 21st January 2012
DampAardvark says...
As the largely deluded leinster_goy has observed, I may have a mild tendency to follow the progress of Harlequins. But if we go down the facts route, for example by consulting the RFU statistics for disciplinary hearings at this website - http://www.rfu.com/TheGame/Discipline/Judgements/Judgments2010-2011/JudgmentsClub/AvivaPremiership.aspx - it will be seen that although Harlequins have not the best disciplinary record they are far from worst (London Irish particularly poor in 2012/11).
Posted 13:54 21st January 2012
Bones7 says...
I think Ray Ofisa has been absolutely fantastic the last two weeks with his hard tackling and incredible work rate. I also think John Muldoon could offer a real edge to the Ireland squad and would definitely have him involved in the national side. Well done Connacht! To put in a performance like they did last week against Toulouse in France and then beat a very good Quins side is fantastic. Looks like Heineken Cup rugby isn't a step too far for them after all!
Posted 12:11 21st January 2012
leinster_goy says...
@damo @DampAardvark
you pair of twits. quins "wrecked by injuries"? pull the other one. easter, evans, care, turner-hall, brown, monye, robshaw, marler, johnston...they had more than enough quality on the field last night to win comfortably, but their decision-making at crucial points was abysmal and they bottled it, simple as that.
that you see no similarity between bloodgate and what happened at toulouse (twice, I should add) tells us all we need to know about where you moral compass is pointed. the fact that this kind of skulduggery is a regular occurrence at quins, and the fact that you attempt to excuse it so blithely, is proof that something is rotten at the core of that club. it's a basic lack of ethics and fair play, not knowing the fine line between bending the rules and breaking them. who knows, perhaps o'shea will be able to rectify it, but i wouldn't hold my breath
Posted 11:27 21st January 2012
damo says...
Didn't see a Connaught man who played badly, they have been kicked from pillar to post by the IRFU, imagine if they had lined out with the folloing also: Cronin/Hagan/Keetley/Carr tonight and throughout the competition I would wager their late loss in Gloucester would have been reversed, their narrow loss in the Stoop would have been more like a 50% chance of a win also. Gloucester at home a win and where would they be? No slight on the players who are a credit to their Irish legend of a manager Eric!! Of the players who left only 1 has played regularly in the HC, add players on the fringes of Leinster and Munster squads and they could be a 4th successful provence and as such promote the game in the West!!!
Posted 10:24 21st January 2012
carpelone says...
Bloody Connacht, they lost me money....
Otherwise, well done.
It is always nice to see minnows downing heavyweights (provided that the heavyweights are not the Boks).
Posted 09:20 21st January 2012
jontheref says...
Take a trip to Connacht at your peril.
Bloodgate was a long time ago, but reference to the deliberate slowing down of lineout ball TWICE in the same game shows there was forward planning, or gross stupidity at the very least, valid reference to my mind!
Posted 09:03 21st January 2012
ciaran1792 says...
Ah im delighted for Connacht its about time there loyal support had something to cheer Muldoon had a great game tonight . :)
Posted 00:00 21st January 2012
DampAardvark says...
What ridiculous comments, equating the bloodgate incident to the Toulouse game, presumably referring to Skinner flapping his hands at a ball that would have bounced along beside the dugout anyway and would not have been easily available for lightning fast "quick" lineout. This is clearly a very dissapointing result for a team who has pretty much put Connacht under the cosh for most of the match but not been able to translate enough of their superiority into points. Full marks for a solid defence though, which is part of the game, fair enough. But the best thing for the competition is having lively entertaining teams go through that are playing well. This is just unfortunate, both for Quins and the competition. They must be kicking themselves.
Posted 23:48 20th January 2012
lawynd says...
Heh, pogmahon called it!
Posted 23:30 20th January 2012
kije says...
A example of the weakness of the mind set that some young players possess and what Lancaster has to eliminate from the English national squad. Happy for Connaght and Irish rugby.
Posted 23:29 20th January 2012
NHsaints says...
Umm thought it was top team of each pool and then top 2 runners up so tolouse are through now...
Posted 23:28 20th January 2012
damo says...
Well done con to a man class dogged display, leinster goy, you know nothing about Quins they are wrecked having so many injuries and a small squad, the opposite to leinster, conor o'shea is a class act, pity leinster and munster took so many connaught players and arent playing them big loss to the west
Posted 22:47 20th January 2012
wexman says...
Think I have read this in the papers, but does this mean that Ulster now qualify? I think with Toulouse losing also they do, is this correct?? If so this will be a great weekend for Irish rugby!
Posted 22:30 20th January 2012
papachinzo says...
Oh dear, I wont be expecting a warm welcome in England any time soon...
Great to see Leinster Munster and Ulster all getting through.
I'd say Toulouse Clermont Saracens Edinburgh and Cardiff will be the other teams to qualify.
Posted 22:24 20th January 2012
leinster_goy says...
bit of karma here for quins? their pitchside antics in toulouse showed that they simply haven't learned from past misdemeanours. as much as i admire their youth set-up and what conor o'shea is doing there, i can't say i'm sad to see them knocked out tonight. the tournament will benefit in the long-run
on a different note, well done connacht!
Posted 22:13 20th January 2012