Andre Esterhuizen’s late try ensured Harlequins signed off their final match of the regular season at the Stoop in style – and boosted their chances of returning here in the playoffs. Esterhuizen struck down the right five minutes from time to settle an entertaining victory over the league leaders, Leicester Tigers, and round off yet another dramatic comeback by the champions. Marcus Smith added a cathartic late penalty for good measure and Harlequins are now level on points with second-placed Saracens and in the mix for a home semi-final.
The Tigers will not be overly disappointed with the outcome given Steve Borthwick again opted to rotate his starting lineup and it is still hard to see how Leicester will not finish top of the pile. They could have made sure of a home playoff here but they have European ambitions to juggle and they may well get the chance to avenge this defeat over the road at Twickenham in June given how these two sides are performing in the Premiership run-in.
Nonetheless it is a feather in the cap for Harlequins considering Leicester had lost only three league matches before this and further evidence that, remarkable as last season’s title triumph was, it was anything but a fluke. It also gets their Champions Cup disappointment out of the system and, though the Harlequins coach, Tabai Matson, conceded they would need Saracens to trip up, a top-two finish is certainly not out of the question.
“They have got to fall over and they very rarely fall over,” said Matson. “The good thing for us is that we’re still in the top four; that has been our goal all year – a good performance at home to finish off our last home game for the fans. We’ve still got three big games to go and we’re still not home and hosed to be in the top four.”
Leicester began with the wind at their backs but, just as they did against Montpellier last week, Harlequins struck early with the opening try. Smith’s decision to kick for the corner yielded its reward with Alex Dombrandt running a trademark line and offloading to Will Collier to score next to the posts.
The Tigers wasted little time in responding, however, Nemani Nadolo crashing through a limp tackle from Louis Lynagh and dotting down. Harlequins soon reasserted themselves, adding try No 2 despite appearing to waste a glorious overlap, Smith fizzing a pass to Cadan Murley to score on the left. Smith shanked the conversion at the same end as his costly miss against Montpellier.
Leicester grew into the match thereafter, buoyed by a fine 50:22 from Freddie Burns, and after a mazy run from the lively Matias Moroni, Hanro Liebenberg registered the Tigers’ second score of the day. Ford was off target with the conversion before a Smith penalty edged Harlequins ahead – a lead they took into the interval after weathering a late Leicester surge which included a bizarre penalty when it appeared Callum Green was in a spot of trouble for a high tackle on Joe Marler.
Harlequins began the second half brightly but after five minutes Borthwick turned to his bench and replaced no fewer than four forwards, introducing Ellis Genge, Dan Cole, Harry Wells and Jasper Wiese. It made an instant impact at the scrum and, after Ford kicked a penalty to the corner, Wiese powered over from close range to give the visitors the lead.
A Smith penalty from in front of the posts nudged Harlequins a point ahead and a missed penalty from Ford – albeit into the wind – boosted the home side’s chances of holding on. Barely a minute later, however, the Tigers were given another go from closer in and Burns, taking over kicking duties from Ford, made no mistake. By now, though, it is common knowledge that only a fool writes Harlequins off and Esterhuizen powered his way over in the right-hand corner before Smith’s decision to go for goal left Leicester with a losing bonus point.
“My job is to put the best 23 out each week,” said Borthwick. “There are lots of big games, they keep coming but I would much rather be in this position than a lot of other teams.”
