Sam Riley’s last-gasp driving maul try propelled Harlequins to their maiden Champions Cup quarter-final, thanks to a nervy 28-24 win over Glasgow at The Stoop.
Replacement hooker Riley ploughed home four minutes from time, with Marcus Smith converting, as Quins shook off Glasgow’s remarkable second-half comeback.
Andre Esterhuizen, Smith and Cadan Murley all crossed for Quins to take a 21-7 lead into half-time. But Glasgow struck twice in four second-half minutes to turn the tide, even snatching a 24-21 lead on the hour.
Scott Cummings, Johnny Matthews and George Horne claimed smart tries for a fired-up Glasgow, but Quins somehow held out.
Glasgow kept Quins scoreless for all but four minutes of the second-half, and so nearly plundered a stunning smash-and-grab victory.
But Quins kept their head, and just as they held on for a topsy-turvy 40-36 Premiership win over Bath at home last weekend, so it played out in west London again.
🙌 @samrileysuh coming up clutch for @Harlequins
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 5, 2024
#HARvGLA #InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/Uk3iegP8ZH
Quins will have plenty still to fix up, but they will be able to do so while basking in the warmth of another vital victory. Saracens or Bordeaux await in the last-eight.
If Saracens win in France on Saturday, then Harlequins will host the Men In Black in the quarter-finals. But if Bordeaux sink Sarries, then Quins will be heading across The Channel for their next European adventure.
Glasgow flew out of the blocks and stunned Quins with a try of incision and composure.
Tuipulotu nipped back around a ruck to set the visitors en route, before Tom Jordan scythed in off the left wing. Cummings ploughed the two yards required for the finish, to cap a 15-phase move fully deserving of a score.
Quins settled and set camp in the Glasgow half, only for Murley to drop the ball over the line in the act of attempting to score. The England A wing had done all the hard work by bumping off Kyle Steyn, only to lose the ball across the whitewash.
Tyrone Green’s madcap quick throw plunged Murley into all sorts of trouble in his own 22. The wing was turned over on the ground, but somehow Quins then escaped without conceding more points.
The mistakes kept coming from both sides, with a horribly high penalty count. But eventually Quins grabbed a significant advantage. Green kept the ball alive well under pressure in the Glasgow 22, then Smith’s neat crossfield chip allowed Esterhuizen a walk in on the right wing.
Smith’s conversion had the hosts level at 7-7, and then Tuipulotu’s yellow card opened the door for more home dominance. Tuipulotu’s sin-binning proved a team dismissal, his offside infringement representing Glasgow’s 12th penalty of an indisciplined half.
Fly-half Smith then quickly stepped inside his man, then stepped inside again to ghost under the posts for Quins’ second score.
And when Smith drifted wide off a threatening, flat Danny Care pass, Murley wound up with a stroll into the left corner for try number three. Smith’s conversion handed Quins a 21-7 lead at the break, a creditable return from a scrappy half.
After the break, Glasgow needed just four minutes to level the scores. First Matthews ploughed in after a driven lineout – that stemmed from Quins botching a lineout in their own 22 and leaking a poor penalty for bad measure.
The Warriors took full advantage to cut Quins’ lead to seven points, then in a flash levelled the match at 21-21.
Jack Dempsey broke the line in style in the outside centre channel, and when Glasgow cut back left, Kyle Steyn flicked inside to send scrum-half Horne scuttling under the posts. Half-back Horne then slotted the conversion to complete the rapid-fire comeback.
By the time Horne landed his first penalty of the night, Glasgow led 24-21 on the hour.
Replacement prop Joe Marler heaped more misery on Quins with a sin-bin for a head-high shot on Rory Darge. Somehow Quins managed to cling on without conceding during Marler’s yellow card, setting up a grandstand finish at a tense Stoop.
The hosts turned over the ball and Smith booted deep into Glasgow territory, and full-back Josh McKay knocked on cheaply. Quins forced a penalty at the scrum and kicked to the corner, rolling the dice and going for a fourth try.
The home men forced another penalty from the driven lineout, kicked back to touch – and then ripped through Glasgow with another maul, to send replacement hooker Riley home.
Smith blasted the tough conversion too, to restore the home lead, at 28-24 with less than four minutes on the clock.
Glasgow used all the remaining time for a desperation stakes attack, but to no avail as Quins clung on.
A first quarter-final in the bag, the season still on track – and Quins can sit back and watch Bordeaux-Saracens on Saturday with the keenest of interests.
