More than 76000 were packed into the French national stadium for this Heineken Cup Pool Match.  The pre-match entertainment was lavish, imaginative and beyond anything seen before in such a setting ranging from gymnastic firemen to medieval knights jousting; eagles flying and the Moulin Rouge dancers doing the can-can.  All this was to showcase the Paris rugby club who had only lost once, to Munster, in 32 previous Heineken Cup matches in Paris. 

But at the end all was multicoloured as Harlequins won 10 – 15 to remain at the head of Pool 4. This was a Harlequin performance of enormous character. It was heroic, phenomenal, and magnificent and without doubt an historic victory that will live long in the memory of all Harlequins supporters who saw it. 

It could have been so different as in the first minute Nick Evans’ clearance was charged down and a kick through saw winger Julien Arias and Tom Williams racing for the ball, the television match official ruling it was knocked on and not grounded.  The ensuing five-metre scrum was lost as the French were awarded a free kick for Danny Care not putting the ball in straight at the scrum. They were immediately on the attack and their dangerous centre Bastareaud was across the Quins’ line with Chris Robshaw beneath him and the television official ruled it as held-up.

Quins now began to settle down and play and it was the home side that began making errors.  A lineout was lost. They were pushed back into their own half.  A fumble from Hernandez allowed Care to prod the ball through into the Stade twenty-two where a disastrous misunderstanding between Saubade and Camara saw Tom Williams with admirable speed of thought and great skill, poach the ball and touch down for the first try which Nick Evans successfully converted to give Quins a lead which they never lost.

Stade could not stop their errors as balls were knocked on, passed forward and attacks foundered.  The Quins back row was immense, with Easter playing one of his best games for Quins.  Robshaw was everywhere and Skinner led the team superbly.  Monye, with little opportunity to run, was excellent in defence and kicked superbly from hand, once pushing play full sixty metres back into Stade territory.  Care sniped incessantly and another kick through might have seen him follow up and score had he not slipped as he tried.  Hernandez dropped goal attempt was wide.

With twenty-five minutes Harlequins increased their lead.   Mike Brown cleared up field. Camara mishandled as Percival tackled him.  The ball ran free for Jordan Turner-Hall to scoop up and run thirty-five metres to the line for the try. Nick Evans conversion attempt missed, but Quins led by 12 – 0. 

Within a minute Hernandez had an easy kick for a penalty but missed.  Quins mounted another good attack, but a cross-field kick to the right where three unmarked Quins lurked failed as it found Bastareaud in goal to touch down.

Stade began to exert pressure and were deep in Quins twenty-two when Danny Care killed the ball and was sent to the sin-bin for his pains.  Hernandez made no mistake with the penalty.  So at half time Quins continue in the lead at 3 – 12.

Quins started the second half knowing that they would be playing with fourteen men for at least the first seven minutes.  Ugo Monye was the emergency scrum-half.  Quins tried to attack while retaining the ball and picking and driving round the fringes of the rucks.  But eventually they were turned over and Stade found some attacking fluency as Camara, Leibenberg and Leguizamon combined for the latter to cut through the defence for the try.  Hernadez converted and only two points separated the teams.

Stade now began to exert greater pressure and to look dangerous.  Quins defended staunchly and attacked when they could.  With fifteen minutes remaining, a good kick upfield was chased hard by Quins. Hernandez was caught inside his twenty-two and penalised for holding on in the tackle.  Nick Evans made no mistake with the kick and the lead was now 10 – 15.

Stade now threw everything at the Harlequins.  Only a converted try could save the game and Stade were committed to all-out attack.  Harlequins mounted a defence that was awesome and special as wave after wave of Stade pressure was held back off the line. 

With five minutes remaining a penalty close to the Quins line saw Stade call a scrum too mount yet another attack.  Stade gained a free kick for an infringement and called another scrum.  The Quins scrum had been under considerable pressure and it seemed likely they could crack.  Instead Stade conceded a penalty and were pushed back to a lineout on the twenty-two.  But the throw in was not straight and another scrum allowed another massive Stade attack valiantly resisted. 

A blatant offside from Jim Evans on another day would have resulted in a yellow card but the referee was distracted by a bad injury following a clash of heads which appeared to have left the Stade player concussed and also in the centre of a flurry of “handbags” between the teams. Stade again called a scrum and with less than a minute remaining Quins were awarded a penalty. It seemed that all Quins had to do to gain their victory was to play the ball downfield and off the pitch.  But something said by Danny Care to a French player caused Alan Lewis to reverse the penalty and Quins had to hold off one last attack. They did so.

This was an unbelievable victory in extraordinary surroundings and circumstances.

That was the view of Dean Richards after the game who agreed  "It is right up there as one of the best results in my time at Quins.  It is not just the defence we had but also the discipline. We could have given away penalty after penalty but we didn't. A lot of the boys grew up here.

"We most probably would have lost this game last year. It's a hugely important game and we played outstandingly well.  We have a huge amount of talent, and they are young boys out there. They are growing up quickly and will learn from matches like this.

"The boys stood their ground and didn't give an inch, and we will have to do exactly the same next week. This is one game of two. Next week is equally as important as this.  The importance of this game isn't the 76,000 people and the circus around it. It's about doing the same thing next week. We have to back it up with a win at the Stoop and by getting through the group.

"But they (Stade) will come back, they will feel wounded and will have all their guns blazing."

The welcome and support for this Harlequin team at The Stoop for the return fixture next week should be a sight to behold.  They deserve to be greeted by a full house in good voice cheering them on, hopefully, to another victory.

Stade Francais: Camara; Arias, Bastareaud, Liebenberg, Saubade; Hernandez, Oelschig; Roncero, Szarzewski, Marconnet, Marchois, Taylor, Leguizamon, Rabadan, Parisse.
Replacements: Bousses for Arias (71), Gasnier for Saubade (19), Albouy for Oelschig (71), Blin for Szarzewski (56), M. Bergamasco for Taylor (56).
Not Used: Montanella, Vigouroux.

Harlequins: Brown; T Williams, Tiesi, Turner-Hall, Monye; N Evans, Care; Jones, Fuga, Ross, Percival, J Evans, Robshaw, Skinner, Easter.
Replacements: Robson for Percival (63).
Not Used: Brooker, Lambert, Guest, Poluleuligaga, Masson, Malone.

Sin Bin: Care (38).

Attendance: 76,569

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

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