Harlequins Edge Out Bordeaux in Thriller to Reach Champions
There are a few intimidating venues in Europe, but none is more impressive this Season than this atmospheric, character-filled old stadium. Consider the temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and the prospect of Harlequins enjoying a quarter-final weekend in Bordeaux would have been on par with a Local Sommelier returning from the Basement with a bottle of Château Twickenham.
So much for that theory, because Quins can now toast the club’s first ChampionsCup semi-final, as a reward for winning one of the biggest knockout competitions of all time. Rugby League is not much more glorious to watch, with a lionhearted forward movement and two attempts by Will Porter ousting a home side who have racked up 100 points in two games against Saracens this year.
Bordeaux did not have the brilliant Damian Penaud or Matthieu Jalibert, both health issue, but Quins were also not found Danny Care, Joe Marler and Joe Launchbury, who withdrew with a calf sprain just before the match. It didn’t matter when Alex Dombrandt, Chandler Cunningham-South, Will Evans and Fin Baxter, the latter heroically appearing in the fray against the mountainous Ben Tameifuna, showed why quin’s future was becoming more and more bright.
It was the most breathtaking joyfull, with Quins’ Pack proving The unexpected Stars of a spectacular 12-test show. Nevertheless, there was drama and intrigue until the end, with Maxime Lucu making a very kickable transformation to take the potential victory. However, to the consternation of the packed home crowd, the France international’s angled kick has come a long way and Quins will face Toulouse or Exeter in the last four games.
Only the memorable semi-final in the middle of Munster and Waspen is pretty much at the top of this rocking epic as the most exciting last-leg match the tournament has ever seen. The visitors’ favorite Plan was clear from the start: to let Bordeaux and its big strikers wander around for as long as possible. From the third minute, after an initial push from Cunningham-Sud, André Esterhuizen found space on the blind side and Porter, who was hiding inside, galloped safely.
That was just the starting. A hard-running Oscar Beard stretched a sufficient central defense and just when Marcus Smith was about to overtake an unmarked Tyrone Green on the right side, an intentional surpower from Matéo Garcia conceded a yellow card and a fully justified penalty attempt. The hosts were 14-0 behind and had to wake up urgently.
They did it right, Lucu showed up in the left corner and the decision was allowed to stop, although Porter was pulled out right behind the backpack. Suddenly it was a completely different match and all the decisions went in the direction of Bordeaux, attributing to Romain Buros an attempt from close range that the Italian referee had initially refused.
Quins had to concoct something special to regain momentum, and at the right time, it happened. The visitors launched a daring raid from their own 22 and Cadan Murley deftly pulled away from a couple of staples before finding Dombrandt to back him up. The N ° 8 remained firm in the tackle long enough to allow Porter a world-class release that completed a spectacular move by advancing his own chip for a classic Score.
At halftime, the lead was 28-12, with Evans rushing after a targeted drive and Smith drilling another rebuild. However, Quins have a long history of blowing hot and cold, and the signs were clearly terrifying when Bordeaux’s French international centre Nicolas Depoortère collected a Lucu offload from his toes and hit the left corner four minutes after the restart.
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