Last-action hero Nick Evans tipping Harlequins for Euro honours

Timing it to perfection: Nick Evans kicks the winning drop goal nearly 10 minutes into injury-time to earn Harlequins a last-gasp 19-17 victory over Stade Francais at The Stoop

Chris Jones|Rugby Correspondent

13 April 2012

Match-winner Nick Evans today backed Harlequins to continue their amazing Heineken Cup run and land European club rugby's biggest prize.

Quins, who didn't win a game in last season's tournament, made it four remarkable wins in a row with a last-gasp 19-17 victory over big-spending Stade Francais in terrible conditions at the Twickenham Stoop.

Outside-half Evans kicked the winning drop goal nearly 10 minutes into injury-time at the end of a 29-phase move that showed just how far this young Quins team have come in the last 12 months. They held their nerve against some of the biggest names in the European game and created the position for Evans to kick the most important drop goal of his career.

He said: "We have worked really hard to put ourselves in this position and there is no reason why we can't go all the way in the Heineken Cup. We're striving to be the very best we can be."

The All Blacks No10 was the missing element in a young squad who are heading for an appearance in the knock-out stages as they top Pool Four with only a trip to Ulster and a home game
with Scarlets in the pool stages to come. Evans said: "I have never played in match like that. I knew we would have to go for the drop goal because Stade were really disciplined and didn't give away a penalty despite all of that pressure. I was looking around trying to find an area on the pitch where I could try the drop goal but that was pretty tough after so much rain.

"Although the kick went to the television official I knew it had gone over and when the confirmation came it was an amazing moment.

"We showed great concentration putting together all of those phases and no one panicked which shows just how far this young team have come. Every player was a hero and I have never been involved in a finish like that in my career."

Evans has endured a roller-coaster ride of a campaign since joining Quins at the start of the season. Having suffered a ligament injury in the opening league game, the goal kicking play-maker had to fight to regain full fitness and now plays with protective tape on his right knee.

Given the way he danced through the mud and the Stade Francais defence to set up the position for a drop goal, Evans is now operating at full throttle. Quins have, in recent seasons, made-do at outside-half and lacked a commanding figure.
Evans now supplies that leadership and is helping bring the best out of a young team that have learnt how to win "ugly" — something director of rugby Dean Richards loved to do in his own playing career.

"We now have to switch to the Premiership and our next game at Northampton," added Evans. "We have set ourselves targets this season and need to get into the top four of the league. Despite successive wins over Stade Francais, we need to keep our feet on the ground because we haven't won anything yet. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels

"We have a lot of young guys in the side and I don't want them to be inhibited. We need them to express themselves and play it as they see it."
Quins scored a try from young centre Jordan Turner-Hall, while Evans kicked the rest of the points, including the drop goal that sent the Stoop wild and ensures that all 55,000 tickets for their league game with Leicester at Twickenham on 27 December will be sold out very soon.

"The decision-making not to take the kick and hold onto possession were critical. That decision-making was something we have been lacking in recent years," said Richards, who has plotted the downfall of Stade on successive weekends.

"The other players will learn from that. Two or three years ago we would never have won it. The side are maturing and are starting to get the results we want."

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