England star Cam Cowell helps Quins through to finals day
HARLEQUINS, for all their trouble getting there, left Franklin’s Gardens unbeaten on Friday night to move onto finals day in style.
After terrible traffic up the M1, Quins pretty much had to get off the mini bus and play – yet still managed to sweep all before them with brilliant organisation in both attack and defence too much for Saints, Gloucester and Saracens.
Their squad were boosted by the presence of England Sevens player Cam Cowell and the young playmaker, who has already played on the World Series, showed why he is so highly rated by England coach Simon Amor.
He was player of the night by some margin making countless breaks to ensure Quins were on the front foot all night.
They face Wasps in the quarter-finals next week and will be joined at the Ricoh Arena by Northampton, who beat Gloucester in the final game thanks to four tries from Howard Packman.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Quins captain Calum Waters. “Everyone dug deep especially after arriving late with only a ten-minute warm-up, but it was a great return.
“We had a great training session on Thursday and it was really good to have the England boys along with us.
“Cam Cowell and Oscar Hirskyj-Douglas are fantastic. They have all the technical stuff which helped us a lot.”
Quins were due to kick proceedings off by taking on Northampton in the first game but their late arrival forced a quick reorganisation and the honours went to Gloucester and Saracens.
The10,000 crowd were treated to a thriller as scores from David Halaifonua, Harry Randall and Thomas for Gloucester and Dom Morris, Alistair Crossdale and Ben Earl for Sarries had the score locked at 19-19.
Gloucester had one last go and Mat Protheroe showed great pace to score in the corner and clinch it.
Quins took on Saints next and were in control all game with tries from Sam AsplandRobinson, James Lang, Gabriel Ibitoye, Hirskyj-Douglas and Jonas Mikalcius earning a 29-19 win.
They had only five minutes before facing a Gloucester side full of Premiership experience – but the Cherry and Whites were outclassed 31-10. Cowell, named player of the round, was Quins’ main instigator with two tries. Lithuanian sensation Mikalcius also grabbed two and Lang added a fifth.
Northampton got their evening and the crowd going in the fourth game as a trydouble from Tom Collins, plus one each from James Grayson and Sam Olver, saw them beat Saracens 24-17.
Quins were certain to make the finals but they end ed the night in style against a much bigger, but slower Sarries side. Lang was the star with a hat-trick, while Henry Cheeseman, Aspland-Robinson and Robbie Nairn took the scoreline to 42-17.
That result meant it was winner-take-all between Northampton and Gloucester for the second finals spot, and, while the Cherry & Whites hit first through Elliot Creed and Randall, they were pegged back by the sensational Packman.
His four tries, plus a final effort from Alex Rayment delivered a 27-17 win.
Collins said:“We didn’t get off to the greatest start against Harlequins and I think we rushed things a bit. But in the end the lads put a good performance together.” RESULTS Gloucester 26 - 19 Saracens Harlequins 29 - 19 Northampton Gloucester 10 - 30 Harlequins Northampton 24 - 17 Saracens Harlequins 42 - 17 Saracens Gloucester 17 - 27 Northampton