Heineken Cup: Nick Easter demands repeat performance from Harlequins as they embarrass Racing

 
9 December 2013

Harlequins' outstanding 32-8 victory over Racing Metro in the Heineken Cup has led to the French club switching their Top 14 match with Toulon from the Stade de France to their own modest stadium because they “do not belong” on a bigger stage.

Outside-half Nick Evans led the way with 17 points for Quins, whose bonus-point win has given them real hope of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the competition after they were bottom of their pool before kick-off.

Racing hosted Quins in Nantes and moving so far from Paris appears to have contributed to the French club’s problems. In a statement, they said: “In light of the result against Harlequins on Saturday, this has forced us to accept we are not a part of the great teams of the moment.

“The Stade de France is reserved for such teams and we do not belong there.

“Thus Racing Metro has decided to cancel our match with Toulon which was due to be played there on December 29 and play it instead at Colombes, our historic ground, where we hope to rediscover our form.”

Quins captain Nick Easter, who scored his side’s second try in the match, has challenged his team-mates to repeat their performance when they host Racing at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday.

He said: “We’re not a results-orientated side, we just wanted to put a good performance out on the park.

“We like to play with intensity and we came close to doing that for the full 80 minutes against Racing. But we know how tough this pool is and now we have to back it up next week.”

Quins are second in Pool Four, three points behind Clermont Auvergne, who they have yet to play at home. Conor O’Shea’s side also face a tricky clash at Scarlets.

Significantly for England and Quins, there was a successful return to action for Chris Robshaw, whose match statistics proved his recent back problem is not hampering his rugby.

The England captain made 16 carries — more than any player in the match — and he will have a key role at the Stoop along with Nick Kennedy, who made his first-team debut for the club after injury problems. Having won the Cup with Toulon last season, Kennedy’s experience could be vital.

In Pool Three, Saracens gained a bonus-point 39-10 win at Zebre and will be looking for a similar result at Allianz Park on Saturday. Mark McCall, the Sarries director of rugby, said: “It was a crucially important win for us but now it is important we prepare well for the return match next week.”

London Wasps and London Irish were impressive winners over French opposition in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Wasps defeated Grenoble 47-7 in France and are within touching distance of a last-eight place.

A late Alex Lewington try allowed Irish to move five points clear of Stade Francais at the top of their Amlin pool ahead of their return match next Saturday.

Brought to you by Amlin, proud sponsor of European rugby, in its fifth season as Title Partner of the Amlin Challenge Cup and Premium Partner of the Heineken Cup.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in