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The European powers-that-be prematurely pronounced Harlequins as being out of the Heineken Cup on Saturday evening, after the multi-coloured ones’ 16-13 home loss to Clermont Auvergne.
Perhaps all the politicking about the future of the event has muddled a few minds. True, Quins are a very long-odds bet to maintain an interest beyond this week’s final round of pool matches – they need a bonus-point win away to the Scarlets on Sunday on top of Saracens losing at home to Connacht the day before, just for starters – but we should at least see those matches played out before jumping to conclusions.
The exasperation for Harlequins’ No 8 Nick Easter was that qualification for the quarter-finals would have been a great deal more attainable if his team hadn’t let slip a 13-3 half-time lead against the French league leaders. It leaves Quins with a more realistic goal in Llanelli of securing one of the three places for clubs to drop into the second-tier Amlin Challenge Cup.
Easter played in the Quins side that won the Challenge Cup in Cardiff in 2011 and they would like a repeat, having also won in 2001 and 2004.
“We’ve been steadily improving, but we’re not firing on all cylinders and we’ve got to continue getting better,” said Easter.
Heineken Cup: Team of the WeekendShow all 15 1 /15Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 1. Andrew Sheridan - Toulon The former England loosehead made his return to European action having recovered from a career-threatening neck injury, and it took little time for him to return to his rampaging best. Two of Toulon's three penalty tries at the scrum came with Sheridan leading the charge, and Cardiff could do nothing about the power of the opposition in a dominant second half.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 2. Dylan Hartley - Northampton Saints The Saints captain was as reliable as ever with his throwing, but his work in defence - with his tackle count hitting double figures - and at the breakdown gave his side a solid platform to base their attack on.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 3. James Johnston - Saracens He may have come out on the losing side, but the Saracens prop was marvellous in a scrum that had the beating of their opposition. Referee Alain Rolland was quickly swayed by the Premiership table-toppers at scrum-time, and Johnston's beating of Schalk Ferreira was one of the main factors behind this.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 4. Yoann Maestri - Toulouse The France international rarely took a step backwards in the loose, and he posed Steve Borthwick and Alistair Hargreaves all sorts of problems at the line-out. He could well be a thorn in the side of England come February 1.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 5. Paul O'Connell - Munster Mr Munster was at his best in the win at Gloucester, which despite the Cherry and Reds' poor form this year still takes some doing. The delight on his face at the final whistle demonstrated the exertion that his side had put into their defence, and with the talismanic second-row leading the way, Munster could once again go all the way.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 6. Juan Smith - Toulon Toulon may have been in the mood to attack, but it was thanks to the South African that they went in at the break ahead, with his defensive work rate unmatchable by any of his teammates.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 7. Thierry Dusautoir - Toulouse The open-side snaffled any quick ball to prevent any chance that Saracens had to attack. Along with his partner in crime Yannick Nyanga, the flanker had the opposition stumped at the breakdown, and was key in earning seven kick able penalties for Jean-Marc Doussain.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 8. Louis Picamoles - Toulouse Picamoles completely outmuscled the Saracens back-row and at times made it look incredibly easy. Whether it was running over Kelly Brown from the base of scrum, or karate throwing Schalk Brits over his shoulder to embarrass the hooker, Picamoles was unstoppable in all areas of his game. Saracens must be sick at the sight of a French powerhouse playing at number eight this season.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 9. Rhys Webb - Ospreys As tempting as it is to include Danny Care for his moment of magic in the build-up to Matt Hopper's try, Webb takes the plaudits for standing out behind a pack that was clearly on the back foot. His try gave the Ospreys hope of a late fight back.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 10. Jonny Wilkinson - Toulon The Toulon captain exchanged penalties with Leigh Halfpenny in the first half, but led his side in a destructive 10 minute period that blew the Blues out of Nice. A haul of 23 points represented a solid day's work from the fly-half. Jimmy Goperth also deserves a mention for leading Leinster's comeback in the win over Castres.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 11. George North - Northampton Saints Just how do you stop him? North continuously came in-field looking for work, but when given just a metre to work with, he beat his opposite man and sprinted 70m for the games opening try. Not content with that, he continued to torment the Ospreys' defence for the entire 80 minutes.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 12. Wesley Fofana - Clermont Auvergne So talented that at times he simply glides past defenders. The threat he posed to a largely inexperienced Harlequins defence saw him free up space for Sitiveni Sivivatu and co, but when he got his chance he made some impressive gains which led to Clermont's comeback win.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 13. Niki Goneva - Leicester Tigers The Fijian back adds another dimension to the Tigers attack with his ability to power through the defence and beat his opposite man. Regularly beats the first defender, as he did on a number of occasions in the win over Treviso.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 14. Yoann Huget - Toulouse David Smith had held this berth until the final game of the round, but Huget was tremendous in counter-attacking as part of a rampant Toulouse back three. Huget started a brilliant move from deep in their own 22 that went through a number of hands before leading to a successful penalty attempt, and also did well in defence in stopping David Strettle early on when one-on-one.
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Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 15. Jared Payne - Ulster A safe pair of hands at the back combined with a natural talent to take the ball forward. Payne always looked to attack with ball in hand, and Ulster are certainly looking a string proposition heading towards this year's knockout stages.
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Danny Care, the Harlequins scrum-half, will have an injury to his left ankle assessed today but he is unlikely to feature in Llanelli, after which he is due to join the England squad preparing to meet France on 1 February. Easter is not in the England squad, and instead will have a week’s warm-weather conditioning in Abu Dhabi next month.
Care’s foot buckled while he was chasing a loose ball with team-mate Ugo Monye and Clermont’s Aurélien Rougerie. “He was a bit ginger when he came off,” said Easter, whose team were leading 13-8 at the time, having just conceded a 46th-minute try to the predatory Napolioni Nalaga after a wicked bounce left Quins’ England full-back Mike Brown flat-footed.
In the first half, Care brilliantly flipped the ball one-handed behind his back when it looked impossible to prevent it going out to make a try for Matt Hopper. “Magic hands,” said Easter.
Sitiveni Sivivatu’s try on 70 minutes levelled the scores after a penalty miss by Nick Evans when Quins were in reach of the win coupled with denying Clermont a bonus point that would have given the home team a great chance of progressing. Brock James’s second penalty for Clermont concluded the scoring.
Clermont host Racing Métro on Sunday with a home quarter-final to shoot for.
Heineken Cup: Team of the WeekendShow all 15 1 /15Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 1. Andrew Sheridan - Toulon The former England loosehead made his return to European action having recovered from a career-threatening neck injury, and it took little time for him to return to his rampaging best. Two of Toulon's three penalty tries at the scrum came with Sheridan leading the charge, and Cardiff could do nothing about the power of the opposition in a dominant second half.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 2. Dylan Hartley - Northampton Saints The Saints captain was as reliable as ever with his throwing, but his work in defence - with his tackle count hitting double figures - and at the breakdown gave his side a solid platform to base their attack on.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 3. James Johnston - Saracens He may have come out on the losing side, but the Saracens prop was marvellous in a scrum that had the beating of their opposition. Referee Alain Rolland was quickly swayed by the Premiership table-toppers at scrum-time, and Johnston's beating of Schalk Ferreira was one of the main factors behind this.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 4. Yoann Maestri - Toulouse The France international rarely took a step backwards in the loose, and he posed Steve Borthwick and Alistair Hargreaves all sorts of problems at the line-out. He could well be a thorn in the side of England come February 1.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 5. Paul O'Connell - Munster Mr Munster was at his best in the win at Gloucester, which despite the Cherry and Reds' poor form this year still takes some doing. The delight on his face at the final whistle demonstrated the exertion that his side had put into their defence, and with the talismanic second-row leading the way, Munster could once again go all the way.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 6. Juan Smith - Toulon Toulon may have been in the mood to attack, but it was thanks to the South African that they went in at the break ahead, with his defensive work rate unmatchable by any of his teammates.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 7. Thierry Dusautoir - Toulouse The open-side snaffled any quick ball to prevent any chance that Saracens had to attack. Along with his partner in crime Yannick Nyanga, the flanker had the opposition stumped at the breakdown, and was key in earning seven kick able penalties for Jean-Marc Doussain.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 8. Louis Picamoles - Toulouse Picamoles completely outmuscled the Saracens back-row and at times made it look incredibly easy. Whether it was running over Kelly Brown from the base of scrum, or karate throwing Schalk Brits over his shoulder to embarrass the hooker, Picamoles was unstoppable in all areas of his game. Saracens must be sick at the sight of a French powerhouse playing at number eight this season.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 9. Rhys Webb - Ospreys As tempting as it is to include Danny Care for his moment of magic in the build-up to Matt Hopper's try, Webb takes the plaudits for standing out behind a pack that was clearly on the back foot. His try gave the Ospreys hope of a late fight back.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 10. Jonny Wilkinson - Toulon The Toulon captain exchanged penalties with Leigh Halfpenny in the first half, but led his side in a destructive 10 minute period that blew the Blues out of Nice. A haul of 23 points represented a solid day's work from the fly-half. Jimmy Goperth also deserves a mention for leading Leinster's comeback in the win over Castres.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 11. George North - Northampton Saints Just how do you stop him? North continuously came in-field looking for work, but when given just a metre to work with, he beat his opposite man and sprinted 70m for the games opening try. Not content with that, he continued to torment the Ospreys' defence for the entire 80 minutes.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 12. Wesley Fofana - Clermont Auvergne So talented that at times he simply glides past defenders. The threat he posed to a largely inexperienced Harlequins defence saw him free up space for Sitiveni Sivivatu and co, but when he got his chance he made some impressive gains which led to Clermont's comeback win.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 13. Niki Goneva - Leicester Tigers The Fijian back adds another dimension to the Tigers attack with his ability to power through the defence and beat his opposite man. Regularly beats the first defender, as he did on a number of occasions in the win over Treviso.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 14. Yoann Huget - Toulouse David Smith had held this berth until the final game of the round, but Huget was tremendous in counter-attacking as part of a rampant Toulouse back three. Huget started a brilliant move from deep in their own 22 that went through a number of hands before leading to a successful penalty attempt, and also did well in defence in stopping David Strettle early on when one-on-one.
GETTY IMAGES
Heineken Cup: Team of the Weekend 15. Jared Payne - Ulster A safe pair of hands at the back combined with a natural talent to take the ball forward. Payne always looked to attack with ball in hand, and Ulster are certainly looking a string proposition heading towards this year's knockout stages.
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