By mike_pw
February 2 2004

Yet more foreign travel. How long will my wife let me get away with it? And could Quins defend their impressive first leg advantage at Brive, one of the fortresses of French rugby? The first game had been clearly dominated by Quins but Brive showed glimpses of why they are top of their group and now, according to an interview with their returning full back, the pressure was off. Dangerous stuff.

The Quins team, although missing Greenwood and with Vos and Leonard on the bench, looked pretty strong, with another outing for Keogh at scrum half and a return for Moore on the wing. Captain for the day was Paul Burke. Brive had also been able to select players returning from injury and needed a good game ahead of an important league fixture.

The Brive ground may be the municipal sports park but that is a somewhat misleading description to an Englishman – this is not minor league. It is a 16,000 capacity stadium, with two big stands – our seats were at the top of the bigger and the view was a bit like at Twickenham , but not the Stoop. However it was not full and although the band did its best (lovely red jackets, perfect timing for ‘Harlequins, Boom Boom Boom’), the atmosphere did not pick up until the referee, Mr Davies, from Scotland, started to animate the Brivistes.



Penaud kicked off, but Quins drove it back and were awarded a penalty, with which Burke opened his account. The restart was followed by a fine Brive attack to a position from which the Brive number 10 made no mistake with the drop goal. But Quins were determined to keep their advantage and a lineout in the Brive 22m was followed by a TOB and a switch to the blindside for George Harder to dive over the line in the corner. The conversion looked good but just faded away – PB was getting his range for the uprights.

Brive broke well from the restart and forced a five yard scrum; Quins were penalised, Brive went for the line-out and their hooker scored from their own (what’s French for TOB?). The conversion was also missed, 8-8. There followed what from my scribbles looks like a long period of mixed open play, including some brilliant Brive handling, an impressive run by Le Roux, the full back, and a good catch and clearance by Duffy. On the 23 minute mark Brive were offside at a ruck and Burke converted to 8-11.

The game continued end to end, including a good Brive break after Burke’s first direct hit on the posts, and from a Brive attacking scrum another blindside pop gave a try to the impressive Donguy. Although another Burke penalty kept Quins just ahead (the first occasion for serious crowd displeasure at l’arbitre) Brive responded with another attack, a scrum just inside the 22 and the first try for scrum half Courrent. Someone may have laid a hand on him but from our distance he appeared to dance through a number of tacklers. This was converted for a half time lead of 22-14. They were still 27 points short…….


There were no apparent changes to either set of personnel at half time. But Brive certainly seemed intent on keeping the attacking pressure and, following a spectacular catch over his shoulder and clearance from Duffy, a break by Courrent appeared to have been halted but he rolled clear and over for a converted try. 29-14 after only 7 minutes.

Quins held out for the next twenty minutes, a period of increasing tension (between the crowd and the referee), substitutions (Jason, Jones & Rudzki, followed by Vos on 17 minutes) and another direct hit on an upright by Burke. There was also a nice break by Sanderson, who unerringly passed to the unmarked winger. Unfortunately it was Harvey, standing about a yard away from Moore. Eventually Quins scored a penalty, when Burke missed the posts. Now 29-17, and we were beginning to feel more secure.
The handbags were making an appearance, and following a long meaning of life between the referee and the touch judge, the Brive lock Chinarro was asked to cool his heels. After 37 minutes Bemand and Dunne came on at half back. Brive kept the pressure on the Quins line but their substitute lock, Wellborn, was also sent off for stamping rather than clearing - again, a decision that did not endear Mr.Davies to the crowd.

The half finished with the desperate 13 men of Brive attacking with passion and they were rewarded with a final converted try, again from a blindside overlap for their winger. 36-20 but Quins were safely through.


As the game finished, the immediate feeling was of elation at progressing to the semis and this was mirrored in the Brive supporters. However, it was not a good performance. Brive were much the better side on the day, (counter) attacking at every opportunity, with some superb handling and support play. Quins matched them in spirit but had few periods of sustained pressure and often just kicked away possession to the Brive runners. The tackling was at times weak or non-existent and some of the Brive tries were soft.

Burke had another good game, with some real bits of adventure; Duffy was solid but the backs didn’t look like creating much. And, although the forwards seemed to be willing to contest everything, particularly in the second half, there was not the dominance they had at the Stoop. After the game ME had the players out on the pitch for what looked like a good talking to and Quins will need to play much better away to Connacht to stand a chance of making the final again.

Oh, and the weather was excellent, warm and sunny. And my lunch at the L’Auberge sur Vezere was very good. I knew there was a reason I went.