Quins are Parker Pen Champions 2004!

By The Prof
June 6 2004

The two sides turned up at the Madejski looking to secure a place in next season’s Heineken Cup and be the first side to win the tournament for a second time, Quins had beaten Narbonne in injury time in 2001 and Montferrand had beaten Bourgoin in 1999.

Montferrand (ASM) were the bookies favourites, they came to the game on a winning streak, their side was star studded with the likes of Merceron, Magne, Azam, Rougerie and their captain Marsh. The bookies didn’t seem to notice we had a few stars of our own, we were the underdogs, but that seems to suit Quins these days.

It was to be the last game for Leonard, Davison, Bemand, Sanderson and Burke and what better way than for them to end on a high with a win and a nice piece of silverware.

 It was very bright in the stadium, not only was the sun shining brightly but the stands were full of Quins fans in their colours, the ASM fans played their part too by bringing huge flags and the one of the biggest shirts we’ve ever soon.

Burke kicked off into the sun, Vos chased up and challenged for the ball but ASM secured it and cleared to touch. Jim Evans caught the throw from Tani Fuga at the front and fifteen yards was made upfield before Burke kicked high and the ball was turned over. A big hit by Harder ensured that Montferrand wouldn’t make too much ground.

ASM soon after butchered their first chance, as they spun the ball right they had a three to one over lap but Merceron decided to hold the ball and the overlap was wasted.

On 8 minutes ASM had the chance to take the lead with a penalty for handling in a ruck, but the young fullback Anthony Floch pushed the ball past the left hand upright.

Just three minutes Burke had a similar chance after Duffy had put in a huge touch kick and Quins were awarded a penalty for a foul against Diprose in the lineout. The ASM fans made a huge amount of noise but Burke’s kick was straight and true (3-0, 11 mins).

Some great offensive tackling from Harder, recycling by Bemand and a charge by Evans swept the ball downfield but the ball was turned over.

The ASM pack rolled the ball downfield and good play from Merceron and Rougerie took the ball close to the Quins line before a penalty was awarded right in front of the posts against Sanderson for hands on the floor. Floch made no mistake this time and the scores were levelled. (3-3, 15 mins).

Some more offensive tackling by Vos and Fuga gave Quins a scrum and although the scrum was under a lot of pressure the ball came back and Greenwood put a perfectly weighted kick over to the right hand corner where Kuzbik couldn’t quite take the ball but it bounced perfectly into the hands of Gavin Duffy who went over to score. Burke missed the conversion from wide out on the right. (8-3, 18 mins)

Excellent lineout ball from Miall was sent left to Harder on the burst who made yards as always but the ball was turned over for accidental offside and Merceron hoofed the ball downfield where Monye knocked on giving ASM excellent field position about eight yards out in front of the posts. Good defence from Greenwood, Deane and Miall forced an ASM knock on but Montferrand’s powerful scrum won a ball against the head and Azam powered over a ruck to score under the posts, Floch had the easiest of kicks and scored (8-10, 23 mins).

Raynaud was sin binned for leaping on Jon Dawson who was acting as scrum half at the back of a ruck, Burke missed a very kickable penalty from only thirty yards out, the Quins section of the crowd sat in stunned silence,

Merceron made Quins suffer more by kicking a drop goal from fully forty yards out (8-13, 28 mins).

Harder was used again and again to batter the French midfield and hands in a ruck gave Burke the chance to make up for his earlier mistake, he struck the ball through the posts to cut the deficit (11-13, 30 mins).

Quins were awarded another penalty when Chanal was caught handling the ball on the floor, dissent was shown and they were taken ten yards further towards the posts, Burke made no mistake. (14-13, 36 mins).

Quins gave Floch a chance to take the lead again for coming round the side of a ruck,  the touch judges’ flags were raised although the kick was very tight to the left hand upright and Burke who was behind the posts signalled that the ball had gone wide (14-16, 38 mins). This remained the score at half time.

Merceron started the second half and Fuga charged forwards with the ball before Duffy kicked for touch. Magne took the ball well but the rolling maul was stopped well by Miall. Merceron tried another drop goal but he put the ball to the right of  the posts. Quins tackling put pressure on the ASM side and they kicked out on the full and knocked on a few times.

Some good scrummaging by Quins put pressure on the Montferrand scrum for the first time. More good work at the breakdown secured a penalty on the half way line, Burke kicked to touch but only made about ten yards. The attack came to nothing when Greenwood was harshly penalised for obstruction.

Soon after Quins were awarded another penalty about 25 yards out, Burke made no mistake, Quins took the lead again, 17-16, 50 mins).

From the kick off Marsh took the ball up well and fed Magne who sent the ball to the left wing where Kuzbik dived in in the corner only to be brought back for Magne’s pass being well forwards.

On 54 minutes Floch had the chance to put ASM ahead again with a penalty 25 yards out for not retreating, he pushed the ball left of the posts and Quins held on to their minimal lead.

Deane took a bang on the head when he got his head on the wrong side when making a tackle as Floch put a good chip through, the ball bounced all around Duffy before Bemand could touch the ball down for a five meter scrum. Deane staggered off to be replaced by Keogh who went onto the right wing while Harder moved to centre.

The Quins scrum held up well but Quins were caught offside and Montferrand had a penalty five yards out and Flock kicked the ball into the corner, Evans and Miall both challenged but ASM took the ball well, the initial drive was stopped but ASM regathered themselves and Mignoni went over in the corner, Floch added the conversion from wide out to take Montferrand six points ahead. (17-23 58 mins)

Vos was blocked from the restart and Burke had the perfect chance to cut the lead but he missed what was for him an easy chance, his groin injury was obviously effecting his kicking. Dunne replaced Burke at fly half and Jones came on for Worsley (61 mins).

Some excellent handling from Sanderson recycled the ball well and Fuga charged forward with Montferrand players hanging off him, Chanal threw a couple of punches as he tackled Fuga and he was binned. Dunne kicked the points from thirty yards out, (20-23, 62 mins).

Dunne then cleared the lines with a fifty yard clearance lifting the volume of the Quins contingent of the crowd.

Another penalty was given away against Sanderson which gave Floch the chance to extend their lead from wide out on the right, he made no mistake, (20-26, 65 mins).

Some lovely handling from Greenwood, Dunne and Keogh took the ball forward but Sanderson lost the ball after the tackle. Davison replaced Evans.

Dunne chipped the ball through and Greenwood picked the ball up on the charge and put a twenty yard pass to Monye on the wing who sprinted forward but was well tackled by Rougerie.

On 72 minutes the whole crowd rose to their feet as Jason Leonard came on for his 290^th Quins appearance to replace Jon Dawson.

Montferrand then played some great keep ball before Merceron had two more failed attempts at drop goals.

At 78 minutes and 38 seconds Chanal put a few punches in on the back of Jason Leonard’s head, they were in an excellent field position, were six points ahead with just over a minute before the final whistle, he was given a second yellow which meant a red card and he was dismissed for the remaining of the game.

Duffy hoofed the ball downfield to about 40m from the ASM line.

There were thirty seconds left, Fuga threw to the ever dependable Diprose at the back, Bemand threw the perfect pass to Dunne, to Greenwood back to Dunne on the loop and out right to Duffy coming into the line. Duffy cut back inside and was supported in the tackle by Monye, Keogh and Vos. Bemand sent the ball left to Harder who made yet another hard, straight run at the Montferrand defence, Greenwood, Leonard and Miall cleared the tackle area and Bemand sent the ball left again to Dunne who passed to Greenwood who took the ball forward supported by Sanderson and Vos, the crowd cheered louder and louder as the pace on the pitch increased again and again. The clock ticked over 80 minutes, this was definitely the last move of the game, Bemand sent the ball right to Dunne, back inside to Fuga, the ball was r3ecycled quickly and Bemand passed right to Dunne who checked left and threw a pass over the top to Davison who took it with his fingertips but kept the move alive,  Bemand left to Greenwood who ran forward, passed left to Jones who made more yards, Montferrand tried to slow the ball up but Bemand got it moving right again. Dunne passed to Harder who charged forward, took the tackle and passed one handed to Monye who hit the line at pace angling infield and looking to make the pass, he stood up well in the tackle and passed the ball inside to Keogh on the burst, running a wonderful angle, he crossed the 22 avoided two tackles and sprinted round behind the posts, the crowd erupted the players leapt into the air and hugged each other, in his delight Keogh had thrown the ball high in the air, Quins were just one point behind.

Dunne walked to where his housemate had thrown the ball, The crowd hushed as Dunne placed it on a kicking tee right in front of the posts but only about ten yards from the Montferrand players, without waiting to line the kick up he took a couple of paces back and chipped the ball through the posts.

The crowd erupted again, the backroom staff and reserved erupted from the bench,  Burke hobbled back on to the pitch and the celebrations began.

Marsh lead the valiant Montferrand team up to pick their medals up first.

Then Davison and Leonard lead the Quins side up the steps – two of Quins’ stalwarts both having played their last game of club rugby. The rest of the squad then followed, Greenwood was accompanied by his young son Archie in a very touching moment.

Vos, raised the cup to a huge cheer, the team came down onto the pitch to show the cup off to the huge bank of Quins fans, Greenwood gave Paul Turner a piggy back; Jeweller took the micky out of Deane’s concussion; Jase wasted champagne; Burke paraded the cup in his last game; Jase pulled down Shaggy’s shorts; the smiles were as wide as you will ever seen; Evs wandered around looking very contented indeed; even the usually undemonstrative Worsley was seen smiling!

The season was  over, there would be no need to go to Twickenham for a wildcard playoff, Quins were in the Heineken Cup, the season was over, the Players Awards Dinner could be enjoyed without reservation, job done, time to head home to The Stoop for a party and a drink or few.

Match Date: Saturday 22nd May 2004
Venue: Madejski Stadium, Reading
Referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Attendance: 13,123
Final Score: NEC Harlequin 27 – 26 Montferrand
Sky Man of the Match: Olivier Azam

NEC Harlequins
Mike Worsley (Ceri Jones, 61 mins), Tani Fuga, Jon Dawson (Jason Leonard, 73 mins), Simon Miall, Jim Evans (Bill Davison, 67 mins), Pat Sanderson, Andre Vos, Tony Diprose, Scott Bemand, Paul Burke (Andy Dunne, 61 mins), Ugo Monye, Mel Deane (Simon Keogh, 55 mins), Will Greenwood, George Harder, Gavin Duffy.
Replacements
James Hayter, Ceri Jones (Mike Worsley, 61 mins), Jason Leonard (Jon Dawson, 73 mins), Bill Davison (Jim Evans, 67 mins), Luke Sherriff, Simon Keogh (Mel Deane, 55 mins), Andy Dunne (Paul Burke, 61 mins)
Scorers:
     Tries - G Duffy, S Keogh
     Con - A Dunne
     Pens - P Burke (4), A Dunne;

Montferrand
Cedric Soulette (Laurent Emmanuelli, 73 mins), Olivier Azam, David Attoub, Hottie Louw (Ed Pearce,  50 mins), Thibaut Privat, Marc Raynaud, Olivier Magne, Elvis Vermeulen (Alexandre Audebert,  50 mins), Pierre Mignoni, Gerlad Merceron, Sebastian Kuzbik (Sebastian Viars,  59 mins), Tony Marsh, Raphael Chanal, Aurelien Rougerie, Anthony Floch.
Replacements
Richard Cockerill, Laurent Emmanuelli (Cedric Soulette, 73 mins), Ed Pearce (Hottie Louw, 50 mins), Michel Dieude, Alexandre Audebert (Elvis Vermeulen, 50 mins), Jerome Moreau, Sebastian Viars (Sebastian Kuzbik, 59 mins)
Scorers:
     Tries - O Azam, P Mignoni
     Cons - A Floch (2)
     Pens - A Floch (3)
     DG - G Merceron
Yellow cards: M Raynaud (25), R Chanal (62)
Red cards: R Chanal (78)

Mark Evans walked into the press conference with a gentle smile on his face and no hair on his head, his smile widened further when he noticed the table full of sandwiches, he selected a couple and sat down at the front of the room. 'Jason and Andre will be in in a minute' he said and asked for questions, the organisers had other ideas and asked him to leave while Tony Marsh and Alain Hyardet came in to answer questions first.

Marsh looked pretty resigned his manager, Hyardet, looked understandably annoyed and disappointed.

Alain Hyardet was asked how he felt, he replied through a translator 'More than terrible, we were more than equal to Harlequins when we had fifteen on the pitch but we had too many players off the pitch. Chanal was sent off for two punches, it was a stupid thing, especially the last incident, you are not allowed to box'

Tony Marsh added 'The discipline that has been instilled in the French national team has not dropped down to club level but it is getting better. Today has been the image of our season. We spoke about discipline before the game, but once again it has let us down. In general English referees are much stricter (I am not sure what Nigel Whitehouse will think of being described as English), you can get away with more in France.

'We should have been further ahead but mistakes let us down, errors let them back into the game, not only the lack of discipline but giving away penalties for handling on the deck, coming round the side.

Hyardet added 'You can always talk about discipline, at the maul, at the scrum, at the ruck but you can't control individual discipline. The Heineken Cup is the best competition so it isn't good that we are not going to be in the competition next season.

Then Marsh and Hyardet left and the Quins contingent came in, Scotty positioned himself, beer can in hand, next to the table piled with food while Evans, Vos, Leonard and Keogh sat down at the front.

The first question was aimed at Jase 'If Chanal did punch you, how much of an achievement was that?'
Jase replied 'it was a hard thing born of frustration and it wasn't in keeping with the game at all. It was not a pleasurable thing, you should ask him if it was a pleasurable thing to punch me'

'Did you say anything to the touch judge when it happened?'
Jase replied 'Nothing'

Then Vos was asked 'Was Quins' discipline a major plus for you?'
'It's so easy to get wound up in the moment, it's just one of those things that happened'

Evans was asked if he thought the win was a fair result
'We were never more than a score behind. ASM played well between minutes 72 and 79 and we got ahead of ourselves, we weren't putting pressure on them. I thought it was gone but that was stupid, we have gone into the last two or three minutes behind but always come away with something - at this point Vos stopped Evans from speaking so the translator could catch up.

Keogh was then asked about the try
He replied with a delivery as fast as his running 'IknewwhenIcrossedthelinethatitwasinportanttogetinundertheposts' the translator looked completely flummoxed, the assembled press had a good laugh while Simon repeated 'I knew when I crossed the line that it was important to get in under the posts'

Evans: 'People overestimate the role of the coach, the senior players are very important, the likes of Andre Vos, Jason Leonard etc. We started a rebirth at Quin four years ago, Simon Keogh only joined recently, it's not about management but about team spirit, supporting each other no matter what happens.

Leonard added 'To get to a final and win it is very special, I've been involved for fourteen years, this win isn't only for the team today but for the whole squad, the management, the backroom staff, the office staff, the ground staff and the fans, it was very special for everyone.

Jase was then asked about team spirit, 'the squad is very close now, it doesn't compare to other years. There is a tremendous will for each other, will can overcome anything as you saw in the last few minutes today.

Evans was asked about using Simon Keogh as a secret weapon 'Simon doesn't like the wing, in fact he's been p 'ed off with me all week for not selecting him at scrum half. With a five two split on the bench we don't do many tactical substitutions in the back line, so it was a complete lack of tactical genius on my part, Tinker covers everything in the backs so he came on.

Evs was then asked if we would be better equipped for next season, 'I hope so, but I don't want to talk about the Heineken Cup, we are interested in this game. The team has worked hard all season. Billy Davison has never been to a final before. If you asked me if I would swap a Heineken Cup place for this trophy I would probably say yes. You get nothing for just taking part. But we are delighted to be in the Heineken Cup next season.

Jase was asked what the future will hold for him now, 'I am just going to take a step back and decide what I want to do, I have got a lot out of rugby so I want to give something back at some level and I only live a few hundred yards down the road from Quins.

Keogh was asked how excited he was to score, 'It wasn't just down to me, the lads had kept us in the game for 79 minutes.

The final questions was about winning this trophy and the Zurich 'A' trophy and having so many players in the England U21 set up and how long it would be before we were in a position to win the Heineken Cup, Evs replied we have an outstanding group of people at Quins and you can do a lot with an outstanding group of people, but who knows how long, it will take time'

Later talking to Stuart Barnes and Michael Lynagh they both praised the way Quins fought hard, dug deep and never gave up - who'd have thought it?

All in all it may not have been the greatest match from a technical point of view but, from a Quins point of view, it was an emotional rollercoaster that had the very best of outcomes, a win, a trophy, a fine end to the best season for a long time, a great send off for some of our players and a wonderful day out for the fans.

Thanks to everyone at Quins: the players, coaches, back room staff, ground staff and office staff.

It's been emotional