Quins stunned by Connacht

Jordan Turner-Hall is tackled

Harlequins blew a golden opportunity to qualify for the last eight of the Heineken Cup after suffering a surprise 9-8 defeat to Connacht at the Sportsground.

With Pool Six leaders Toulouse also being defeated by Gloucester, Quins just needed to see off a side who had not won in any competition since September to book their spot in the quarter-finals.

The visitors dominated possession and territory throughout the match, but could not turn their pressure into points amid cold, wet and blustery conditions in Galway.

Niall O'Connor kicked all of Connacht's points while Quins, who still have a faint hope of qualifying as one the best runners-up, scored a try through Sam Smith and a penalty via the boot of Nick Evans.

The result means Toulouse qualify despite slipping up at Kingsholm, while current Pool Four leaders Ulster are also guaranteed a spot in the quarter-finals.

Possession

Harlequins had all of the possession from the off but fell behind early on when an infringement in the scrum allowed O'Connor to nail what was a difficult penalty given the conditions.

The visitors were soon in front, however, when Sam Smith did well to score in the corner after collecting a looping pass from Evans, with Fetu Vainikolo trying and failing to bundle the winger into touch.

After the video referee confirmed the try, Evans attempted to drop the conversion after the ball blew off the tee but his kick was unsuccessful.

But another problem in the scrum gave Connacht a second penalty in the 12th minute and O'Connor again did well to slot it through the posts, with the fly-half adding another three points from the tee shortly afterwards.

Quins continued to come forward but a heavy spell of pressure right in front of the Connacht try-line went unrewarded when Evans knocked the ball on.

Playing into the wind, the visitors were finding it almost impossible to kick the ball downfield and instead it was Connacht who began to pepper the Harlequins line in the closing stages of the half.

Pressure

But they could not force their way over as the pressure was broken up when Quins conceded a penalty, which O'Connor managed to slice wide from close to the posts to leave the score at 9-5 heading into half-time.

Quins were straight back on the attack with the wind now in their backs at the start of the second half, although Ugo Monye missed out on a certain try when he failed to collect a defence-splitting grubber kick from Evans.

Quins continued to camp inside the opponents' 22, though, and reduced the gap to one point in the 60th minute when Evans slotted over a simple penalty.

A dominant Quins scrum earned another penalty shortly afterwards, but Evans this time hooked a difficult attempt wide of the posts.

The English side continued to have all of the possession in the dying stages but Connacht's defence stood firm to prevent them from advancing into drop goal range.