There is no doubt that this was a step up in intensity from the previous week’s match at Bath.  Both in attack and defence Leinster had international class players playing to those standards. Quins, hampered by the injury to their fly-half, which ultimately forced Nick Evans off the field after only seven minutes of the second half  were unable to breaks through the staunch Irish defence.

From the start Quins launched an attack with Nick Evans putting Tiesi and then Turner-Hall in space.  They met fierce resistance and within six minutes gained a penalty giving Evans the chance to open the scoring but his kick faded left, missing the target by a couple of feet.  Errors crept into Leinster’s play with kicks intended to gain territory having the opposite effect as Contepomi and O’Driscoll among others whose attempts sailed out on the full.  But after fifteen minutes it was Contepomi who opened the scoring with a penalty to give Leinster the lead.

Quins were on the rampage and threw themselves at the Irish defenders through their centres as Evans put Tiesi through, the move ending with Strettle stopped just short of the line in the right corner.  Monye, too, needed several defenders to bring him down as he tried to cut through in midfield.  A drop goal attempt from Danny Care went wide as Quins desperately sought to open their account.

But they had to defend with power and determination as a typical O’Driscoll chip and collect saw him almost cross the Quins line as Monye caught him and David Strettle got his body underneath preventing the score.  Leinster then were camped on the Quins’ try line and only a penalty conceded by Easter, who knocked the ball down and earned a yellow card, relieved the pressure but allowed Contepomi to double the score at the interval to 0 –6.

But the worry for Quins was the obvious injury to Nick Evans and it was with some relief that he was seen to reappear after the interval. Leinster started with attack as Quins were down to fourteen men and only a final forward pass prevented Kearney from scoring.  A drop goal attempt from Kearney failed. 

But Quins held on. As Easter returned they were again on the attack. A quick tap penalty by Care put Robshaw on a dangerous run along the left touchline. A deliberate trip by Contepomi as Robshaw chased his chip ahead earned the Leinster fly half a yellow card.  But with Evans then being replaced by Malone, Quins kicked for the corner and laid siege to the Leinster line.

Through two scrums and numerous rucks and drives, breaks by Care and Monye, Leinster held out until finally the ball was moved out right along the backs and Mike Brown dived over for the try.  With a difficult kick only five metres in from the touchline, Malone’s conversion attempt skewed across the goal to pass outside the left post and shortly after the replacement fly half had to be carried off with an hamstring injury.  Tom Williams replaced him, but Quins now had no regular gaol kicker. When another long-range penalty opportunity came Mike Brown stepped up to attempt the shot at goal but his attempt fell short.

Then, controversially, Nick Evans returned as a blood substitute for Williams.  There was a mixture of fear and fury among the Leinster coaches seated in the press box. Blood could clearly be seen around Williams’ mouth, but such was the fear of what the Kiwi fly-half might do to them that they would have made any allegation to prevent his reappearance.  His re-entry to the fray was sanctioned by the rules and the referee allowed it once satisfied that Williams’ injury was genuine. As Dean Richards said later, “You have to know your rules don’t you? If you don’t it is not my problem.”

Five minutes remained and memories of the defeat of Stade Francais flashed before the eyes of most Quins’ supporters.  Gradually Quins worked Evans into position for the drop goal attempt.  It was, perhaps, rather further from the posts than would have been best and the fly half was kicking with his injured leg as tantalisingly the ball drifted wide and the game ended. With it ended Quins dream of the semi-final and beyond.

Quins had put in a massive effort. The scrum was formidable and in the backs Care, Monye, Turner-Hall and Tiesi played out of their skins.  It is invidious to distinguish anyone from a tremendous team performance.

While relief was the principal emotion of the Leinster coaching staff, Dean Richards was in philosophical mood.  “We’ve come a long way in this competition and a lot of that is down to the ambitions we have and our willingness to put ourselves on the line,” he said. “You look at the Stade Francais game at home, the Llanelli game away from home and the Stade Francais game away and the way we play, I wouldn’t say it’s carefree, but we like to play rugby. “

“In that respect, it’s been a lovely journey for us but it’s come to an end. You have to accept that and the boys will take a lot of fond memories away from it. You have to draw a line under it. We’re disappointed. I’m proud of the guys. We tried our hardest, but at the same time, we’ve got something else going on in our rugby lives, which is the next game. It’s difficult to get as far as we have and to lose by a point but you’ve got to accept that and we’ll learn from it. They’ll be no regrets from anybody. They’ve done so many good things.”

“Nobody would have left the stadium today with five minutes to go, and they didn’t against Stade Francais or Llanelli. We’ve given good value for money and we aim to continue to do that.”

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle, G Tiesi, J Turner-Hall, U Monye; N Evans (rep: C Malone, 47-70; rep: T Williams, 70-76), D Care; C Jones, G Botha, M Ross, J Percival (rep: J Evans, 70), G Robson, C Robshaw, W Skinner, N Easter (sin-bin, 40+1-52).

Leinster: R Kearney; I Nacewa, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, L Fitzgerald; F Contepomi (sin-bin, 51-62), C Whitaker; C Healy, B Jackman, S Wright, L Cullen, M O’Kelly, R Elsom, S Jennings, J Heaslip.

Referee: N Owens (Wales).

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