What Stade Francais had failed to do in Paris, Quins achieved in Twickenham as the unlikeliest of drop goals from Nick Evans snatched victory by 19 – 17.

Parisian pride had been hurt at the Stade de France and they were looking for revenge as well as a lifeline to further progress in Europe.  The weather was little short of atrocious.  It had rained all day and continued to do so with wintry ferocity throughout the match.  It was not a day or surface for running rugby.  The boot ruled the day as each side tried to force errors from their opponent.  It took precisely 57 seconds for the first penalty to be awarded to Quins and for Nick Evans to score the first points and a further five minutes for Stage to respond with their own score from Oelshig.

A fine touch found by Oelshig deep in Quins twenty-two and pressure on the Quins lineout that followed brought an attacking scrum close to the Quins line and from it Oelshig evaded two tacklers to slip over for a try.  His conversion attempt hit the post and rebounded and Stade led 3 – 8.

Less than a minute later, Ugo Monye’s complaint to the referee at a swinging arm as he jumped for a high ball saw a scrum in Quins favour changed to a penalty against them and Oelshig increased the lead to 3 – 11.  This served to spark renewed effort from Quins.  They won a scrum against the head. A fine carry by Nick Evans produced a penalty on the halfway line followed by a god touch in the French twenty-two.  The move that takes Care through the lineout towards the tryline was tried but the scrum half was caught and knocked on.

Then a penalty from a scrum produced another three points from Evans’ kick and Quins continued to increase the pressure.  A good touch from a Care kick saw Quins win the lineout.  A Stade scrum produced a Quins free kick and then another ten metres for some French indiscipline.  Now Quins scented the try and great forward pressure drove over the line only to have a possible try disallowed for accidental offside. 

A poor French clearance kick from the scrum gave Quins a lineout inside the visitors’ twenty-two and when the ball came rapidly to mid-field there was Turner-Hall slicing through the Stade defence untouched to score between the posts.  The conversion was a formality for Evans. After twenty-eight minutes Quins had regained the lead, only to lose it again a couple of minutes later as another penalty as Quins went offside.  A cross-field kick intended for Monye in space was missed as the winger slipped and knocked on.  The half-time whistle blew with the visitors leading 13 – 14.

Conditions had clearly worsened when the second half commenced.  The rain continued to team down and more and more both sides relied upon high kicks in the hope of a successful chase and recipients errors.  Nick Evans slotted a long penalty to regain the lead.  A long penalty chance saw Hernadez kick drop short.  Care miss-kicked a drop goal attempt and the clock began to show time running out.  A kick through for Monye saw his attempt to kick on just a little further skew into touch.

With eight minutes remaining Hernandez succeeded with a drop goal to give the visitors the lead at 16 – 17.  And so began one of the most amazing periods of rugby witnessed at The Stoop or anywhere else.  With barely a minute on the clock, Parisse sliced a kick to touch giving Quins possession of the ball and a lineout.  They commenced to work their way up field immaculate in their retention of possession as they did so and with their opponents desperate not to give away another kickable penalty.

Twice the ball came to Nick Evans and his runs at the Stade defensive line threatened to pierce it for a try.  Once the forwards were almost across for a try.  Twice the fly-hlf had declined to kick the drop goal towards which all this effort was bent.  Harlequins had taken the ball through twenty-nine phases when finally Evans kicked. The ball just scraped over the crossbar and The Stoop held its breath while the television match official was consulted.  The raised arm of the referee and the final whistle sparked an eruption of joy among the Quins team and their supporters that will live long in the memory.

This was an even more fantastic victory that the previous week in Paris and one in which every one of this team played at a level and with an intensity that is to be admired.  The forwards were immense.  The front five lost nothing in comparison to their opponents while the back row of Robshaw, Skinner and Easter played out of their skins.  The backs played their part, too and Nick Evans gave the control and direction that was necessary and produced a result that was almost unbelievable.

At the press conference following the match Dean Richards was full of praise for his fly-half, Nick Evans, in particular his decision-making.  He went on, "I thought the whole team showed a huge amount of patience. To not give away a penalty or turn over the ball in that final move shows how they have matured as a side. I am quite pleased with that,"

"Even if we had lost I would have been happy with the commitment shown by the players. It was a fantastic win but there were times when we didn't play as we said we wanted to play and nearly threw away a couple of opportunities. We will take everything from it we can because we have still got to learn from it”.

"I thought Nick Easter was outstanding but a lot of the guys were.  Mike Ross showed why we rate him far more than Ireland do. He scrummaged really well and the pack worked well as an eight."

  “We’d never have won that game two or three years ago,”  said Richards  “I didn’t think the 29 phases were all about Nick Evans. The forwards played their part but Nick's decision-making was critical and that is what we have been lacking in many ways. The decision-making not to take the kick and hold onto possession was critical. That decision-making was something we have been lacking in recent years," said Richards. "The other players will learn from that. Two or three years ago we would never have won it. I think the side is maturing greatly and we are starting to get the results we want."

"We will reflect on the game and go back through it and rue missed opportunities, kicks at goal we could have had, but it is all a learning curve the players are going through. There is still a long way to go. We have won four out of four but there are two difficult games ahead, Llanelli at home and Ulster away."

Nick Evans, in interview was asked about the two games against Stade Francais and said, “"It was awesome. The last two weeks have been right up there in the top five games of rugby I have played in my career," 

“That was probably the ugliest drop-goal I have hit in my life, but it doesn't matter how they go over. They all count." he said.  "It was an ugly game and we had to front up. But the boys are very happy. It is a pleasure to be playing with such a close-knit group of guys.”

Harlequins: M Brown; T Williams, G Tiesi (D Barry, 70), J Turner-Hall, U Monye; N Evans, D Care; C Jones, T Fuga, M Ross, J Percival (G Robson, 57), J Evans, C Robshaw, N Easter, W Skinner (capt).

Stade Français: JM Hernandez; M Gasnier, S Glas, B Leibenberg, Mirco Bergamasco; G Bousses (M Bastareaud, 59), N Oelschig; R Roncero (D Attoub, 65), D Swarzewski (M Blin, 59), S Marconnet, A Marchois, P Vigouroux (P Rabadan, 50), S Parisse (capt), J Leguizamon, Mauro Bergamasco.

Referee: N Owens (Wales).

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