Rugby Union / Pilkington Cup Quarter-Finals: Challinor the class divider

Harlequins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Sale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

WITH barely a stumble, Harlequins marched towards their fourth Pilkington Cup final in four years. They may underwhelm in the long haul of league rugby, but in the intense cockpit of a do-or-die quarter- final they overwhelmed Sale.

Sale made the long journey from Cheshire and the even longer one from the Second Division to find that the gap between the top flight and the followers is a chasm. They fought heroically but ultimately found it unbridgeable.

Resolute tackling, hard running and gritty determination could get them only so far. In the end, they did not quite have the skill and panache to break through. Sale's not-so-

secret weapon was Paul Turner, the outside-half who spent long years thrilling Welsh crowds before moving north. He remains predictable only in his unpredictability. With just 48 minutes gone, though, he fractured his cheekbone and when he left the field, so did Sale's hopes.

The Cheshire side continued to play with guts and with heart. There remained arithmetically a small deficit, but the spark that might have ignited them had gone.

Quins simply rolled onward methodically. None of their three tries was the stuff of dreams - two came after their pack had battered Sale into confusion: first, Paul Challinor crossed to finish a move he had started with an up-and-under; 10 minutes later, the centre Gavin Thompson scored after the Quins pack had grafted for acres of space.

Sale's pack fought heroically to keep some form of control. They won a good share at the line-out and forged the try that kept the game alive. The flanker Dave Erskine finally grounded the ball after they rumbled and rolled a maul over 20 yards.

On paper it looked as though Sale stood a chance for much of the game, but in the raw flesh they never seemed likely to win. The replacement outside-half Phil Jee confirmed the defeat when he threw a wild pass behind his own line. Will Carling simply dropped on the bobbing ball to secure a place in a semi-final.

Harlequins: Tries Challinor, Thompson, Carling; Conversion Challinor; Penalties: Challinor 2; Drop goal Pears. Sale: Try Erskine; Conversion Turner; Penalties Turner, Jee.

Harlequins: D Pears; D O'Leary, W Carling, G Thompson, J Alexander; P Challinor, C Luxton (B Short, 71); J Leonard, B Moore, A Mullins (capt), M Russell, S Dear, B Richardson, T Coker, J Cassell.

Sale: J Mallinder (capt); S Verbickas, J Baxendell, M Birt, K Young; P Turner (P Jee, 48), M Warr; M Whitcombe, S Diamond, A Smith, D Baldwin, R McCartney, J Erskine, A Macfarlane, D O'Grady.

Referee: E Morrison (Gloucester).