Heineken Cup: Harlequins beat Connacht 47-8 to advance as Pool 3 winners

Harlequins front-rower Joe Marler takes on the Connacht defence

Tom Williams: Winger scored two second-half tries for Harlequins

Harlequins maintained their perfect record in this season's Heineken Cup as they notched six tries during a 47-8 rout of Connacht at the Twickenham Stoop.

Tom Williams grabbed a second-half brace and Ugo Moyne touched down on his 200th appearance for the Londoners as they confirmed their progress to the quarter-finals as Pool 3 winners.

A first-half penalty try had set the hosts on their way, while late scores from George Lowe and Ben Botica put a real gloss on the scoreline.

Connacht could only muster one try in response, John O'Connor grabbing what proved a mere consolation just past the hour mark, as the Irish outfit ended up soundly beaten.

However, it did take Quins some time to subdue an enterprising start from the visitors and they were somewhat fortunate to be leading 6-3 after the first half an hour - Nick Evans having kicked two penalties to one from Connacht's Matthew Jarvis.

Evans then missed a penalty and declined to take another as Quins opted for a more attacking option and it paid dividends when they were awarded a penalty try on 35 minutes following a succession of scrum infringements by the visitors - Evans converted and added a penalty to give his side a 16-3 interval lead.

Decisive score

Within two minutes of the restart, Quins had taken a real stranglehold on the contest - a brilliant run from Mike Brown saw him beat three defenders before sending Williams away on a 40-metre run to the line for a try which Evans converted.

Connacht were reduced to 13 men when firstly O'Connor foolishly picked up a yellow card as he deliberately pulled back a Quins' tackler and, almost immediately, Fetu'u Vainikolo went the same way for an obstruction on Monye as the wing chased down a kick forward for a possible touchdown.

The numerical superiority quickly told as Williams finished off a routine three-quarter movement for his second try before Joe Marler and Connacht replacement, Ethienne Reynecke, were also sin-binned for fighting.

For a minute Connacht were down to 12 players before Vainikolo and O'Connor returned and it was the latter who deservedly collected a try for the Irish by driving over from close range.

Back came Quins for the final say with first Monye celebrating his achievement with a superb long-range individual effort for the bonus point try, before Lowe and Botica rubber-stamped an emphatic victory.