O’Shea unconcerned after big defeat

Editor

Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea wasn't overly concerned after his side took a heavy 42-9 defeat away to Montpellier in the Challenge Cup.

O'Shea announced earlier this week that he would be leaving Harlequins at the end of the season.

Quins had already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition prior to Friday's game, having won their first five pool matches.

"There is a lot to take from a game like this, so I'm pretty philosophical about it. We knew it was going to be tough coming over here," admitted O'Shea.

"The score line is pretty unreflective in the end, we definitely got on the wrong end of the referee, as you often do away from home. There was a massive momentum shift just as we were going into half 9-8 ahead.

"For the majority of the second half we were under massive pressure, but I think they only scored one try in 25 minutes. In the end, the score line was certainly unreflective of the game."

O'Shea isn't expecting a knock-on effect from the defeat, despite his side being outscored by five tries to none.

"This game won't have much of an impact on our campaign – we were five from five and had secured our home quarter-final. This was a fairly even game in the first-half to say the least," added O'Shea.

"We gave a lot of people a good opportunity tonight, and we'll move on. We won't get carried away by the emotional last couple of minutes of the game.

"Just look at the opportunities we had, we created two really good chances in the first half and missed both, they also had two chances and scored both. Montpellier are a good side, and we're looking forward to play them again at some stage."