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Harlequins may have already sealed a home Challenge Cup quarter-final
Harlequins may have already sealed a home Challenge Cup quarter-final, but they will put their unbeaten pool stage record on the line at Montpellier on Friday night.
The Twickenham Stoop side fought-off a red-hot Cardiff Blues comeback on Sunday to make it five bonus-point wins from five. The victory guaranteed them top spot in Pool 3 and a home quarter-final, but they can still have a big impact on who else reaches the knockout stages.
Quins joined Gloucester and the Newport Gwent Dragons in the quarter-finals, and this weekend’s opponents Montpellier will be hoping to join them. A home win for Jake White’s side would put them through as a best-runner up, but the Cardiff Blues – who take on bottom side Rugby Calvisano – will be waiting to pounce if Quins complete a perfect pool stage.
Quins almost surrendered a 28-0 half-time lead, as Cardiff scored four tries to narrow the gap to just five points at one stage, and Yarde is determined not to make the same mistakes over in France.
Quins wing Marland Yarde said: “We’ve got to look at ourselves, that second-half performance against Cardiff wasn't good enough. If we’re going to win trophies, we need to make sure we perform for the full 80 minutes and not just the full 40. But we can’t be too hard on ourselves, we’ve gone through the group unbeaten and we have a home quarter-final and hopefully we can take that forward to Montpellier this week.
“It’s important we keep our feet on the ground and make sure we take each game as it comes, if we keep making silly mistakes then we’ll pay for them. But we’re happy with where we are at the moment and hopefully we can push on.”
Match Facts
- These sides have clashed three times in the Challenge Cup with all three matches ending in wins to Harlequins.
- Montpellier have won six of their last seven matches against English teams in the Challenge Cup, though their last such game was a 41-18 loss to Harlequins.
- Montpellier have won their last seven home matches in the Challenge Cup, a run dating back to 2009.
- Harlequins have won six of their last eight away matches in the Challenge Cup.
Résumé: Montpellier / Ulster - Journée - 21/10/2013 10:05
French international outside half Francois Trinh Duc made a triumphant return in the final six minute to oversee Montpellier’s push for the bonus point try that clinched a quarter-final ticket.
Trinh Duc had been out of action since breaking his leg on 20 November and returned for the final six minutes. He made an immediate impact with a wonderful cut-out pass to 20-year-old centre Yvan Reilhac to put him through a hole in the Harlequins defence to crown his European debut with the bonus point try.
Replacement hooker Charles Geli then added a fifth try at the death to give Trinh Duc the chance to end the game with his second conversion in a matter of minutes. He hit the target with both kicks t goal and by the end it was a record defeat for the pool winners.
The Quins came into the game on the back of a perfect record of five bonus-point victories in a row and safe in the knowledge they had already bagged a home quarter-final. The 42-9 final scoreline represented the biggest score conceded by the Quins in the Challenge Cup, overtaking the 37 they shipped against Toulon in 2011/12, and the losing margin of 33 points was greater than the 29 by which they went down to Toulon.
All the visitors’ points came from the boot of outside half Ben Botica in the first half and they failed to score a point in the second 40 minutes. Twice he gave Quins the lead, but missed with a fourth kick at the start of the second half.
Australian full back Jesse Mogg scored the first of the home tries and Montpellier led 15-9 at the break thanks to a second try from flanker Wiann Liebenberg and a penalty and conversion from the boot of outside half Demetri Catrakilis.
Catrakilis added a second penalty in the 54th minute, but the critical moment came 12 minutes later when the Quins’ replacement No 8 Mat Luamanu became their first player this season to pick up a yellow card in Europe.
Montpellier notched a further 10 points while he was on the sidelines as Nic White dotted down the third try moments after coming onto the field and Catrakilis added the conversion and a third penalty. Then came the final, Trinh Duc induced flourish that ensured Montpellier booked their quarter-final ticket.
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