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Danny Care felt that Harlequins “messed up” in the first half after their Investec Champions Cup hopes were ended by semi-final opponents Toulouse.
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Quins were 19 points adrift at the interval before staging a thrilling fightback to trail by just five with more than an hour gone.
But Toulouse scored again after Quins hooker Jack Walker was yellow-carded, sealing a pulsating 38-26 win and place in the final against fellow European heavyweights Leinster at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 25.
“We messed up in the first half – we gave them too many points – and unfortunately it was too much to claw back, even for us,” Quins scrum-half Care told ITV Sport.
“They are a brilliant team, world-class, and the final is going to be unbelievable.
“But we’ve shown we can go toe to toe with one of the very best in Europe. We back ourselves against anyone, and it is all down to the Premiership now.”
Quins rugby director Billy Millard agreed with Care’s assessment as Toulouse posted five tries during a dominant first 40 minutes.
Millard said: “We were getting counter-rucked at the breakdown. We let them in for some soft tries with some poor breakdown work.
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“We didn’t start well. In these big games you can’t afford to have lapses, and we were poor in the first half, really.
“There was a lot of good stuff from today, and no injuries, and now we need to get back and prepare for a massive game (against Exeter) next weekend.
“We have got ourselves in positions in both competitions, so we have got to finish well. We will be gunning for the next two weeks.”
Quins remain strongly in Premiership play-off contention with two games of the regular league season left, and they will need to put their Champions Cup disappointment quickly behind them.
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They went blow for blow with record five-time tournament winners Toulouse, showcasing their exhilarating attacking adventure through tries from Marcus Smith, Cadan Murley, Will Evans and Tyrone Green, while Smith kicked three conversions.
Toulouse could not relax until wing Juan Cruz Mallia’s 69th-minute touchdown, which immediately followed Walker’s yellow card, and came after earlier tries by Antoine Dupont (2), Matthis Lebel, Peato Mauvaka and Thibaud Flament, with Blair Kinghorn adding three conversions and Thomas Ramos one.
Toulouse’s England international flanker Jack Willis can now look forward to a first Champions Cup final following Top 14 league title success with the club last season.
“It was a pretty tense one,” Willis said. “Quins threw everything at us, and we really had to put our best out there.
“We prepared for and respected Quins this week. We saw what they did in Bordeaux (Quins beat quarter-final opponents Bordeaux-Begles 42-41) – a bit of magic at the drop of a hat – and we are chuffed to get the win.
“I grew up watching these finals with my dad and brother, and to now be involved in one is pretty incredible.
“We have got an incredible opponent in Leinster, and we have got to go there and chuck everything at it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
4 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
4 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments