A delighted Harlequins director of rugby Conor O'Shea compared his side's victory over Toulouse to winning a cup final.
Aviva Premiership leaders now right in contention in Pool 6
Harlequins director of rugby Conor O'Shea compared his side's stunning 31-24 victory over Toulouse to winning a cup final.
A pair of tries from Mike Brown, either side of Joe Gray's first-half effort, plus 16 points from the boot of Nick Evans, sealed a famous Heineken Cup triumph for the current Aviva Premiership leaders.
The result also blows Pool 6 wide open, with Toulouse having won the reverse fixture at the Twickenham Stoop just over a week ago.
It means both teams, as well as Gloucester, are now contention to qualify for the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club competition.
Incredible
O'Shea said: "Right now this feels like we've won a cup final but it's a pool game and we have to make sure we keep learning.
"The resolve the players showed was incredible. We have a good record away from home but we knew coming here we were going to have to ride our luck at times in the face of wave after wave of pressure.
"They missed a couple of kicks but we had the ambition to play and everyone involved with Harlequins must be very proud of the effort of the players.
"We won't stick our heads in the sand and say it was a perfect performance but these are the days that make the Heineken Cup and the games you are judged on."
Quins held a 15-3 lead after just 18 minutes when Brown and Gray both crossed as a result of well-placed kicks by fly-half Evans.
Their cause was helped by Luke McAlister's misses at the other end of the field, the New Zealander failing to land three shots at the posts.
Yoann Maestri touched down just before the break and then Jean-Marc Doussain took over the kicking duties to put the four-time champions 19-15 up.
Game-changing moment
However Tom Williams turned over possession with a telling tackle on Vincent Clerc, from which Brown scored Harlequins' third - and decisive - try in the 62nd minute of a pulsating contest.
"We have shown how quickly we can learn at this level," O'Shea added.
"We were disappointed with a few things from the previous game at the Stoop but we got our line-speed in defence right and that pressured them (Toulouse) into mistakes.
"When you look at their bench, they were bringing on more power after power but when you're in the match, you get carried away with adrenaline and that's what happened here.
"We got a few breaks and then Tom Williams came off the bench and produced a game-changing moment that got us right back into the game when we needed it most. Then we held out for a big result."
