Harlequins 5 Leinster 6

April 10, 2009 / client

Leinster booked a semi final spot in the Heineken Cup with a gritty 6-5 victory over Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday afternoon…

The visitors prevailed thanks to a heroic defence, and two first half penalties by Felipe Contepomi.

Full-back Mike Brown’s try with 14 minutes left finally breached the Leinster defence, only for replacement Chris Malone to miss the conversion.

Speaking after the game, Leinster Coach Michael Cheika said: "That was a tense game. We made too many unforced errors in the first half but we showed a lot of character and I’m delighted for the team and for the supporters who were fantastic today.

"We know that we will have to bring our performances up another level for Munster. Whenever you play them you always get a very tough game. I was pleased with how we coped with the physical and mential pressure."

HARLEQUINS SCORER: M. Brown (1 try)

LEINSTER SCORER: F. Contepomi (2 penalties)

HARLEQUINS:

15: Mike Brown
14: David Strettle
13: Gonzalo Tiesi
12: Jordan Turner-Hall
11: Ugo Monye
10: Nick Evans
9: Danny Care

1: Ceri Jones
2: Gary Botha
3: Mike Ross
4: James Percival
5: George Robson
6: Chris Robshaw
7: Will Skinner CAPTAIN
8: Nick Easter

REPLACEMENTS:

16: Tani Fuga
17: Mark Lambert
18: Jim Evans
19: Tom Guest
20: Andy Gomarsall
21: Chris Malone
22: Tom Williams

LEINSTER:

15: Rob Kearney
14: Isa Nacewa
13: Brian O’Driscoll
12: Gordon D’Arcy
11: Luke Fitzgerald
10: Felipe Contepomi
9: Chris Whitaker

1: Cian Healy
2: Bernard Jackman
3: Stan Wright
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Malcolm O’Kelly
6: Rocky Elsom
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip

REPLACEMENTS:

16: John Fogarty
17: Ronan McCormack
18: Trevor Hogan
19: Sean O’Brien
20: Simon Keogh
21: Girvan Dempsey
22: Shane Horgan