Super Quins stun Stade

Harlequins have upset the odds and scored a sensational 15-10 Heineken Cup victory against Stade Francais at the Stade de France.

The hosts had never before lost a pool game in the French capital but were undone by two opportunistic first-half tries scored by Tom Williams and Jordan Turner-Hall.

After an opening period in which a confident-looking Quins took the game to their opponents, Stade came back into contention in the second half and pulled a try back courtesy of Juan Manuel Leguizamon.

However, the Guinness Premiership side stood firm as Stade piled on the pressure in the closing moments and now move three points clear of them at the top of pool four.

A crowd of 76,569 - a record for a pool game - had turned out, with Stade celebrating their move to the national stadium by laying on pre-match entertainments consisting of fireworks, jousting and can-can girls.

Dean Richards said his side would not be overawed by such an occasion and so it eventually proved, although fly-half Nick Evans was charged down in the very first minute - Julien Saubade almost nipping through to touch down on the left-hand flank.

From the five-metre scrum, the ball was fed right before Mathieu Bastareaud surged forward to cross. However, the outside centre was adjudged to have been held up and Evans finally cleared the danger.

Quins took the lead in the 12th minute, moments after a neat chip from Danny Care had given them prime territory.

The home side won the resulting line-out but Care's boot this time produced a chip to the right-hand flank whose bounce deceived both Saubade and Djibril Camara - Williams kicking the ball clear of the Stade pair before touching down.

Evans converted and it was game on. Quins could have gone further ahead in the 18th minute when opposing scrum-half Noel Oelschig fumbled, the ball being booted towards Stade's line but the man leading the chase, Care, slipped at the wrong moment.

Upper hand

With Nick Easter also surging forward, the visitors had the upper hand at the mid-way point of the first half - Stade's backs in contrast looking unsettled.

A moment of promise for Stade came in the 24th minute when a well-worked line-out saw Sergio Parisse break forward. The ball was then worked left but Bastareaud lost the ball.

Mike Brown cleared Quins' lines and Hernandez attempted to deal with the ball. However, his attempted pass to Camara resulted in the full-back being hit by Jim Evans, with Turner-Hall breaking away to touch down.

Evans missed the extras, with Hernandez's troubles increasing four minutes later when he missed a penalty attempt.

A misplaced pass across Stade's backline then resulted in a five-metre scrum but their forwards saved the day and the ball was turned over before they cleared their lines.

The closing minutes saw Stade recover their composure and start moving the ball around.

Hernandez put their first points on the board with a penalty after 38 minutes - the offending Care receiving a yellow card.

Quins did not survive his sin-binning without further damage, Stade applying territorial pressure before scoring their first try in the 46th minute.

Leguizamon was the man to score, the winger making a full 35 metres after receiving a deft offload from Brian Liebenberg, with Hernandez kicking the extras.

Care was back on the field but, with the crowd behind them, Stade streamed forward again - helped by Williams, who failed to deal with a Hernandez punt - before Camara knocked on.

Poised

And yet, with the hour passing, the match remained as finely poised as the two-point difference suggested.

Another break from the imposing Bastareaud resulted in a Quins knock-on deep in their own territory. However, Care cleared from the resulting scrum and, with Hernandez tardy in dealing with the ball downfield, Evans instead kicked a penalty.

Stade won a five-metre scrum when Brown failed to clear in the 72nd minute. But Evans' cheeky offside interception angered the home side and a bout of fisticuffs ensued.

Despite deliberately giving away a penalty, Quins then earned one of their own - Evans clearing to a backdrop of boos. The home side stretched Quins this way and that and earned a penalty with two minutes remaining for hands in at the ruck.

Hernandez kicked to the corner but their hopes of a comeback appeared dashed when Mauro Bergamasco dropped the ball from the resulting line-out.

However, late indiscipline from Quins handed Stade a penalty right under the posts with full time almost up.

Hearts were in mouths as Stade once again tried everything they knew to score the try they needed. But try as they might, they failed to breach Quins' line.