Smith’s miss leaves Quins a point short

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER

Harlequins ……..33pts

Tries: Jones 1, Dombrandt 16, Marchant 29, Lynagh 38, 75

Conversions: Smith 2, 17, 30, 39

Montpellier ……20pts

Tries: Reilhac 12, Tisseron 33

Conversions: Foursans 13, 34

Penalties: Foursans 27, Pollard 55

Montpellier won 60-59 on aggregate

A BLISTERING game and a wonderful advert for two-legged ties which ultimately ended with Montpellier heading into the quarter-finals.

Some will point to a missed conversion by Marcus Smith with just four minutes to go – and by his standards it was a relatively easy kick – but in a contest of 119 points and 16 tries to apportion blame on the England ten would be perverse.

Quins should look elsewhere if they want to dwell on their failure to progress. They were slow out of the blocks and then, when they finally slowed a little and became tactical midway through the second half, they failed to capitalise on a seemingly endless period camped on the Montpellier line. Trailing by six points this was crunch time.

Perhaps referee Mike Adamson could have produced a yellow card quicker and Handre Pollard should have conceded more than a penalty when he intercepted from what looked like an offside position. There are definitely grounds for grumbling but equally Quins don't always help themselves.

They are an extremely vocal team with three or four senior hands seemingly always in the referee's ear. Not just Adamson, any referee.

Such an approach often win penalties, yellow cards and even penalty tries on occasions… but it can also irritate some refs who tire of being told their job.

During that long passage there were other ‘moments'. Remarkably, Montpellier did manage one very good scrum themselves which might have earned a penalty on another day while Zach Mercer pulled off an exceptional tackle to deny Alex Dombrandt from close range.

Smith did also thrillingly cross the line after a trademark hitch kick, sideways shuffle, loop and straighten. Perfect, except Huw Jones hadn't read the play and had clumsily impeded a Montpellier defender.

There was so much to get your head around but mainly we should concentrate on a brilliant spectacle. Quins, trailing by 14 points, set their store out and clawed back seven inside a minute with Smith and Dombrandt creating a try for Jones.

Montpellier hit back with a try from Yvan Reilhac but Quins were in the mood and scored next through Dombrandt who was on fire all afternoon.

 

Touchdown: Louis Lynagh of Harlequins scores their fourth try

PICTURE: Getty Images

Louis Foursans added a penalty for the visitors but then came something special. Montpellier drilled a penalty touch finder into the Quins 22 but Danny Care leapt acrobatically to bat the ball back and Smith set off in sensational fashion, slashing his way upfield. Then came a perfectly weighted pass to Cadan Murley before another adroit pass to send Joe Marchant steaming in. A thing of beauty.

All money on Quins but again some of Montpellier's lesser names stepped up with Julien Tisseron scoring a smartly taken try from a cross field kick from Foursans yet there was still time for Lynagh to claim Quins' fourth before the break. 28-17 on the day, three points behind on aggregate.

Finally the contest went a tad cagey and tactical. A Pollard penalty nudged Montpellier ahead but then came that period of great Quins pressure and missed opportunities. A beautifully worked try by Lynagh -that man Smith providing the pass -seem to have clinched it but the conversion sailed past. Montpellier had nicked it.

 

It's there: Montpellier's Yvan Reilhac scores