Heineken Cup Report - Stade Toulousain 24 - 31 Harlequins
By Alanquin
December 19 2011
Harlequins have pulled off some astonishing results in recent years including victories at the Stade de France, The Stoop and Cardiff over Stade Francais and at Thomond Park against Munster. Possibly the victory in the Heineken Cup over Toulouse at Le Stadium, by 24 – 31 outshines those other great performances. It was totally exceptional.
It is three years since Toulouse, with their unlimited purse and an almost all-international team and bench, last lost a European cup match on their home turf. They did so this time to a Harlequin team driven by the ambition and physicality their coaches had been preaching in the run up to this match. That is how they played.
The first scrum produced a penalty for Toulouse that McAlister duly turned into points. Immediately, a ruck from the restart saw Will Skinner’s feet waving wildly high above it and the penalty for the tip tackle allowed Evans to equalise. A knock on from the next restart saw Quins infringe again at the scrum. McAlister’s kick rebounded from the post. Barely five minutes had elapsed!
When Quins were able to mount an attack, a few minutes later, a kick from Evans towards the corner found Mike Brown in pursuit and his successful chase brought the first of the full back’s two tries. Evans was short with the conversion attempt from the touchline, but Quins led 3 – 8.
McAlister missed twice with kickable penalties that would have restored the lead to Toulouse. Instead, an unexpected bounce from another Evans’ kick gave Quins possession and some slick close passing between Hopper, Robshaw and Care put Joe Gray in for the visitors’ second try. Evans added the extras.
Always looking sharp and dangerous in attack, Toulouse forced Quins to produce desperate and determined defence. A despairing tap tackle from Care put the dangerous winger Matanavou into touch to scotch a clear try-scoring opportunity. A forward pass ended a clear run for Clerc. But inevitably and just before half-time Toulouse opened a gap in the Quins’ defence and through it galloped Maestri for a try that Doussain, taking over the kicking duties, converted. The score at the interval was 10 – 15.
Much time was spent in the interval, and indeed during the game, in trying to put back the monstrous divots kicked up by the scrummaging. How long could Quins retain that slender lead? With Toulouse unloading still more of their galacticos from the bench and increasing the pressure on the Harlequin defence, it was not likely to be long. A penalty soon reduced the lead to two points and then a powerful attack from a lineout was stopped by Robson holding Servat inches short of the line. It was ruled “no try” but the penalty for offside, which immediately followed, took Toulouse into a one point lead.
Again Toulouse attacked and their powerful forwards mauled over the line, but once again Harlequins threw numbers into the breakdown and the ball was ruled held up. A penalty at the scrum that followed should have increased the lead, but sailed wide of the posts. A Mexican Wave expressed the home support’s disapproval. It was assuaged a couple of minutes later when a successful kick did increase the lead to 19 – 15.
As the last quarter began, Tom Williams replaced Stegmann and his first act was to chase the restart. He chased so effectively that he clattered Clerc and dispossessed him of the ball, setting Quins off on an attack which ended with a delicate offload from Easter to Brown and the full back’s second try. Evans duly converted and the Harlequin lead was restored.
Then a yellow card for Easter reduced the visitors to fourteen men with twelve minutes remaining. A catch and drive from the lineout from the penalty took the powerful forwards over the Quins’ line for the scrum half, Doussain, to score the try, but he missed the conversion. With ten minutes remaining the lead had become a single point. But two successfully kicked penalties from Nick Evans pushed the lead to seven points and Quins were savvy enough to play out time.
Curiously there was a red card for Will Skinner, long after he had been substituted by Wallace, for handling a ball off the pitch and preventing a quick Toulouse lineout!
After the match Conor O’Shea was in jovial mood expressing his pride in the team and the performance tempered by the fact that it was only a Pool game and nothing more than the game had been won by a victory he proclaimed as one for “the size of the heart over the size of the wallet. Today the heart won.
This was a stupendous team effort in which every member of it played a proper part.
Toulouse Medard; Clerc, David (Fritz, 22), Jauzion, Matanavou; McAlister, Doussain; Montes (Human, h-t), Servat (Botha, 61), C Johnston (Poux, 61), Millo-Chlusky, Maestri (Lamboley, 68) Bouilhou (Nyanga, 61), Dusautoir (capt), Sowerby (Picamoles, 61).
Harlequins Brown; Stegmann (Williams, 61), Hopper, Casson, Smith; Evans, Care; Lambert, Gray (Brooker, 54), J Johnston, Vallejos (Matthews, 77), Robson, Robshaw (capt), Skinner (Wallace, 47), Easter.
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland). Attendance 32,994.
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My dear chap after the number of brilliant reports you have written over the years and you have totally bottled out of waxing euphorically eloquent, overwhelmingly exuberant, mindbendingly exited - instead you have given us a wonderfully English, modest,low key report of how a genuine rugby club gave its all in beating the very best in the Northern hemisphere - I loved this report for its lack of exageration.
Without doubt one of the greatest victories in the pantheon of great rugby games.
A joy.
on on quins
on on quins
Thanks for an excellent report which brought back all my memories of a truly memorable trip.
One very minor point, you have Smith at 11 for us but Ugo played there.