Harlequins struggled past Gloucester to keep their Heineken Cup dreams well and truly alive. Mike Brown’s try was just about enough to ensure the Quins inched through 20-14 to remain in touching distance of Pool leaders, Toulouse.
In the 73rd minute, Quins were trailing 14-13 and heading out of the competition, but a Danny Care kick was met by Brown and Harlequins seem now to be in an excellent position for a spot in the quarter finals as runners up at the very least and even keeping their outside chances of topping the group alive.
Brown was one of a number of Quins players to impress and is amongst a contingency of four players from the Stoop to be called into the England squad for the 6 Nations. His head coach Conor O’Shea has heaped praise on Brown for his recent performances, which he feels have put him in an excellent position to oust Ben Foden from the England full back position.
Gloucester had proved a difficult challenge for the Quins, who have cooled since their invincible start to the league campaign and the Quins were looking set to go out of the competition when on three occasions late on skipper Robshawe turned down kickable penalties to regain the lead from Gloucester. The gamble seemed to have back fired when they seemed to have wasted when a five metre scrum resulted in a scrappy penalty award to Glaws. Quins though composed themselves and created one last chance to secure their survival in the competition and eliminate their English rivals from the competition.
Quins next travel to Connauct, who are yet to register a win in this seasons tournament whilst Gloucester face a challenging visit from Toulouse. Gloucester will be looking to do themselves justice with their performance, and if they can stop the French side from winning Quins will be gifted a chance to top the group.