Quins' plea to fans in final push

Harlequins are looking to take a staggering 20,000 fans to Twickenham for the Tetley's Bitter Cup Final against Newcastle on 24 February in a bid to boost their chances of playing in the European Cup next season.

Their shock 22-18 win over Leicester in Saturday's semi-finals has doubled their chances of European competition next season, either through the Cup or the tougher route of the European Shield for which they have yet to qualify for the quarter-finals.

On top of that Quins have to improve their league position because they are only five points ahead of bottom-placed Rotherham, whose stunning win over Saracens shows they are far from being counted out.

Quins chief executive Mark Evans, who took over as head coach when Zinzan Brooke departed last week, said: "All this keeps our season alive and means we have no meaningless matches all the way through. We are not going to make a place in Europe through the league, so we must go for the other two chances."

The Quins-Newcastle final sets a challenge to both clubs to produce a respectable gate for the first game to be played outside of the usual end of season date. Both finalists will today be issued 5000 tickets, at £28 and £22 each, with an option for many more.

Attendances for the last four finals underline the task facing the teams - 2000: Wasps v Northampton 52,000; 1999: Newcastle v Wasps 48,000; 1998: Saracens v Wasps 57,000; 1997 Leicester v Sale 70,000.