O’Shea: It feels like we’ve won the cup

HARLEQUINS stunned four-time champions Toulouse 31-24 yesterday to reignite their European Cup quarter-final hopes a week after the French giants had seemingly delivered a fatal blow on the English side.

Ahead 15-10 at the break, courtesy of Mike Brown and Joe Gray grabbing tries to Yoann Maestri’s lone reply, Toulouse briefly took a 19-15 lead in the second period.

But full-back Brown added his second try against the run of play for a 20-19 advantage which soon became 25-19 thanks to the nerveless conversion and penalty kicking of former All Black, Nick Evans, who ended with 16 points.

Afterwards, however, director of rugby Conor O’Shea sounded a note of caution. “Right now this feels like we’ve won a cup final but it’s a pool game and we have to make sure we keep learning.

“The resolve the players showed was incredible. We have a good record away from home but we knew coming here we were going to have to ride our luck at times in the face of wave after wave of pressure. They missed a couple of kicks but we had the ambition to play and everyone involved with Harlequins must be very proud of the effort of the players.

“We won’t stick our heads in the sand and say it was a perfect performance but these are the days that make the Heineken Cup and the games you are judged on.”

Meanwhile Northampton collected their first Heineken Cup win of the season with a bonus-point 45-0 success over Castres at Franklin’s Gardens.

The notable action came in the final quarter as the Saints scored five tries to emphasise their superiority over a very poor French side. Stephen Myler kicked the remaining 20 points for Northampton.

Glasgow left the door open for Leinster to claim a home quarter-final with a surprise 13-13 draw against an under-strength Montpellier at the Stade Yves Du Manoir on Saturday.

The hosts briefly came to life in a scrappy first half when Yoan Audrin touched down in the corner and Iliad Perraux kicked two penalties but Glasgow fought back through a Rory Lamont try and some assured place kicking by replacement out-half, Duncan Weir.

Montpellier, who brought Francois Trinh-Duc and Mamuka Gorgodze off the bench in the final quarter, were awarded a penalty by referee Andrew Small with the last play of the game but replacement scrum-half, Benoit Paillaugue, missed the relatively easy kick.

Should Leinster beat Scots on January 14 they will claim the top spot with a game to go.

The 20 points from Jonathan Wisniewski’s boot saw Racing Métro stun London Irish 25-19 in their Heineken Cup fixture at Madejski Stadium.

After securing a bonus point in a 34-14 win away in Paris last week, Wisniewski and Tom Homer exchanged kicks to leave the score 12-15 to Racing at the break.

A second-half try by Sireli Bobo and Wisniewski confirmed the win although David Paice crashed over and Homer added the conversion for a bonus point.

Pool Four is still wide open after Leicester came from behind to edge Clermont 23-19 in a classic at Welford Road on Saturday.

The result, combined with Ulster’s bonus-point win away to Aironi, means there is a three-way battle for top spot in the group.