their power bringing two penalty tries as they achieved the destruction of the Tigers’ scrum.

The determination of the visitors to attack was shown from the start. Quick passing and speed were the weapons with which they sought to impose themselves.  It took only three minutes for Leicester to penetrate the Quins’ defence, moving the ball wide to the left where an overlap allowed winger Ryan Owen to score the try in the corner. Humphreys converted from the touchline.

Harlequins responded by similar running tactics.  A good run by Kiba Richards looked to penetrate the defence, but Masson was unable to hold on to the final pass. Another attack petered out when Repetto, looping round to produce an overlap was tackled into touch short of the try line.  Then from a line-out close to the Tigers’ line the ball was tapped back and a quick follow up forced the touch-down and a Quins five-metre scrum.

Now the pack showed their power.  Clearly winning the scrum, they gained a penalty.  Diprose chose another scrum and again Tigers were penalised.  A third scrum and a third offence saw referee Roy Maybank under the posts to award a penalty try.  Mike Brown kicked the additional points and after fifteen minutes the scores were level at 7 points each.

A penalty chance on the Tigers’ twenty-two metre line saw Mike Brown’s kick just drift left of the posts.  A good break by Masson saw his pass intercepted and cleared to touch.  Forwards and backs were combining well in attack but the Tigers’ defence was holding firm.  Handling errors began to increase on both sides and play was largely in midfield.  A good high kick by Brown was followed up by Richards whose tackle put the defender into touch for an attacking lineout, but the throw was adjudged as not straight.   For Tigers, Humphreys had a poor attempt at a drop goal.

An almost certain try was thrown away when an excellent break by Ian Vass was wasted by the worst of passes allowing Henry Barratt no chance of taking the ball.  The visitors’ response was their first determined attack for some while taking them deep into the Quins’ twenty-two.  A little shirt-pulling on Hipkiss, off the ball, as Leicester broke through resulted in another penalty try, this time against Quins.  Humphreys added the conversion and a minute or so later another three points as Quins conceded a penalty immediately in front of the posts in the face of another Leicester thrust.

Quins had one last attempt to reply but Charlie Amesbury was forced into touch and at half-time Leicester had a ten point lead at 7 – 17.

The second half had barely started when a neck injury to Kiba Richards brought a very long delay and the stretcher was needed. When play eventually resumed the Harlequin forwards resumed their domination of the Tigers’ pack.  The Quins forwards pushed their opponents back rapidly and a penalty followed.  The kick found touch on the Leicester 10-metre line.  The lineout brought further pressure and another lineout on the twenty-two.   From this lineout Quins caught and drove with both pace and power, the maul rolling for almost twenty metres.  Then excellent works by the backs saw the ball moving right along the line where Adam Thompstone, substitute for the injured Richards, with his first touch of the ball scored in the corner.  Brown’s excellent touchline conversion kick brought the score to 14 – 17.

Encouraged by their success, Quins increased the pressure and another sequence of good running and superb handling saw Thompstone just put a foot in touch short of the try-line.  Another scrum for a penalty close to the Tigers’ line saw their pack again going backwards and another penalty try.  Brown added the points and for the first time in the match Quins led by 21 – 17.

But five minutes later Quins conceded a penalty in their own twenty-two leaving Humphreys a simple kick for three points and only two minutes later Hipkiss, at speed, evaded a despairing tackle from Henry Barratt to touch down behind the posts.  Another easy kick by the fly-half left Leicester leading by 21 – 27.  That increased shortly afterwards when the flanker, Brent Wilson, finished off a good move by the visitors’ backs by scoring in the corner.  Humphreys missed the conversion but the lead had increased to 21 – 32.

Quins went determinedly back on the attack.  A penalty found touch deep in Tigers’ territory.  When the ball came to Vass he aimed a long crossfield kick to the right wing.  Despite the kick not reaching its target, Tigers were caught offside.  Again Quins called for a scrum which resulted in another penalty and, of course, another scrum.  This time Tigers tried to turn the scrum but the ball went loose and Quins almost reached the line.  They were awarded another scrum but knocked on.  This time Leicester were themselves turned and Quins were awarded the put in.  This scrum produced another penalty and yet another scrum. 

But now Quins sought to run the ball wide but were stopped just a metre short of the line in the right corner.  For killing the ball in the resulting ruck Matt Cornwell was sent to the bin and Tigers were reduced to 14 men for the remainder of the match.  From the penalty the ball came left along the line with Quins determined to retain possession and patiently working for the opening which came when Charlie Amesbury sliced through the defence for the fourth try.  Brown’s kick from wide out missed.

Showing great determination Quins resumed their attacks, moving the ball with excellent handling through at least a dozen pairs of hands until Luke Sherriff forced his way over in the corner.  Brown again missed and now only a point separated the teams.  All was not yet done as Quins gained a lineout on the Leicester twenty-two and almost immediately after a penalty for offside.  With no time remaining for a line-out Brown lined up another kick at goal and this time was successful.  The final whistle followed with Harlequins winning 34 – 32.

Coach Colin Osborne was pleased with the performance and the result.  “The closeness of the score meant that we did not have to worry about defending a lead or play catch up rugby for the second leg.  It was now a one-off cup final next Monday with all to play for.   The team had no reason to be overawed by the Leicester crowd.  The whole team could be very proud of what they had achieved.  That was a good Leicester side.  Tigers never put out a weak team for any game.  At half-time I told them to be a little more patient with the ball in hand and they would reap the rewards.  They did so.”

Head Coach Andy Friend, too, was pleased and described the performance of the forwards as “awesome”.  One could even detect the glimmer of a smile on the face of Dean Richards.

So next Monday at Welford Road is crunch-time with both teams going for a second success in winning the A League and the possibility of an unique treble.

NEC Harlequins A: 15. Mike Brown, 14. Kiba Richards, 13. Henry Barratt, 12. Tosh Masson, 11. Charlie Amesbury, 10. Ian Vass, 9. Duncan James, 1. Aston Croall, 2. Augustin Costa Repetto,  3. Lorne Ward, 4. Kevin Burke, 5. George Robson, 6. Pablo Bouza, 7. Luke Sherriff, 8. Tony Diprose (Capt)
Replacements: 16. Alex Rogers, 17. Mark Lambert, 18. James Inglis, 19. Darren Clayton, 20. Steve Wallace, 21. Will Maddocks, 22. Adam Thompstone
Scorers: Tries: Penalty (2), Thompstone, Amesbury, Sherriff . Conversions: Brown (3). Penalty: Brown

Leicester Tigers A: 15. Matt Smith, 14. Alex Dodge, 13. Danny Hipkiss, 12. Matt Cornwell, 11. Ryan Owen, 10. Ian Humphreys, 9. Alex Wright, 1. Darren Morris, 2. Ephi Taukafa, 3. David Young, 4. James Hamilton, 5. Tom Croft, 6. Brent Wilson, 7. Will Skinner, 8. Ben Pienaar
Replacements: 16. James Buckland, 17. John Rawson, 18. Henry Tuilagi, 19. Will Johnson, 20. Dan Montagu, 21. Rob Springhall, 22. Ben Toft

Scorers: Tries: Owen, Penalty, Hipkiss, Wilson. Conversions: Humphreys (3). Penalties: Humphreys (2)

Referee: Roy Maybank (RFU)

Attendance: 3066

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