The Quins set the record straight in France
Saturday 24 December 2011
Having been convincingly beaten the week before, few gave Harlequins a chance as they travelled to Toulouse on Sunday night for round four of the Heineken Cup. In their previous encounter Toulouse had dominated the game, stripping Quins of their 14 game unbeaten run; but it was the turn of the south Londoners to rob Toulouse of a host of records as they snatched a historic 31-24 victory in France.
Quins' win at Le Stadium will not go unnoticed by pretenders to the European crown. Winning here is as rare as an RFU report that doesn't get leaked. Before the match Toulouse were unbeaten in 30 successive home games and the last time a UK team won here it was 2009. You have to go even further back for the last time an English team flew home victorious “ back in 2000 when Saracens (Quins' next opponents) recorded a win.
Whilst Quins fans will celebrate a hard-fought win over Christmas, they will know there is plenty of work to be done if they are to be seen as genuine European contenders. Toulouse again dominated the scrum, and whilst Quins competed far more effectively at the breakdown they conceded too many penalties in the 20 minutes after the break, allowing Toulouse back into the game. It could have all been very different had Luke McAlister not missed three early penalties.
The good news for Quins however was a return to an offloading open game that has them at the top of the Aviva Premiership and just one point behind Toulouse in Pool Six of the Heineken Cup. Nick Evans looked devastatingly clinical from the kicking tee and out of hand presented an attacking threat that was absent in the previous encounter. It was his perfectly weighted chip that put the in-form Mike Brown in for the first of his two tries of the evening.
After Sunday's match O'Shea noted 'You are judged by your next match and that is another huge one against Saracens," and so it will prove. So far almost 70,000 tickets have been sold for Big Game 4 on the 27th of December at Twickenham.
Both teams are littered with England hopefuls, including the likes of Saracens Alex Goode and Owen Farrell, with Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown for the Quins. Neutrals will hope that the occasion and opportunity to perform on the big stage in front of interim England coach Stuart Lancaster will make for an enthralling encounter.
