CONNACHT COACH ERIC Elwood praised his player’s efforts after they recorded their first-ever win in the Heineken Cup on Friday night.
On the back of a 14-game losing streak, odds were seemingly stacked against the Irish province as they took on Harlequins – one of a number of in-form Premiership clubs – in their final pool in Galway.
“To defend like we did with the discipline we did, the commitment was excellent,” Elwood told reporters afterwards. “I think everyone got their reward – the players and the crowd.
“It was not the prettiest of game but we have been knocking on the door for the last 13 weeks so I am quite happy to take an ugly win, no problem.
“What it means is that we have the monkey off our backs. The lads now know that against one of the better teams of Europe we can grind out a victory if we need to, but to do that you have to do the simple things right.”
Former Ireland international Conor O’Shea is the man looking after Quins’ fortunes and believes his side are now effectively out of the competition.
“We just have to take it on the chin,” he insisted. “We cannot describe just how disappointed we are as a group to let a lot of good work in this Heineken Cup go to waste, but that’s life and you get on with it and we have to focus on the LV= Cup next week.”
Speaking to the BBC, team captain Chris Robshaw added: “No-one was complacent. We wanted to be in the knockout stages. We didn’t just want to be there to make up the numbers – we came in here to give it a real go.
“Obviously we’ll see where things end up on Sunday night, but in all honesty we probably will be back in the Amlin.”
A shock defeat for Toulouse by Gloucester meant Harlequins would have qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition had they beaten Connacht. After the result, however, they only have an outside chance of progressing as one of two best runners up.
HEC monkey banished off our backs, says ecstatic Elwood
CONNACHT COACH ERIC Elwood praised his player’s efforts after they recorded their first-ever win in the Heineken Cup on Friday night.
On the back of a 14-game losing streak, odds were seemingly stacked against the Irish province as they took on Harlequins – one of a number of in-form Premiership clubs – in their final pool in Galway.
However, some resolute play, three penalty kicks from the boot of Niall O’Connor and plenty of badly-needed luck was enough to ensure a famous victory.
“To defend like we did with the discipline we did, the commitment was excellent,” Elwood told reporters afterwards. “I think everyone got their reward – the players and the crowd.
“What it means is that we have the monkey off our backs. The lads now know that against one of the better teams of Europe we can grind out a victory if we need to, but to do that you have to do the simple things right.”
Former Ireland international Conor O’Shea is the man looking after Quins’ fortunes and believes his side are now effectively out of the competition.
“We just have to take it on the chin,” he insisted. “We cannot describe just how disappointed we are as a group to let a lot of good work in this Heineken Cup go to waste, but that’s life and you get on with it and we have to focus on the LV= Cup next week.”
“Obviously we’ll see where things end up on Sunday night, but in all honesty we probably will be back in the Amlin.”
A shock defeat for Toulouse by Gloucester meant Harlequins would have qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition had they beaten Connacht. After the result, however, they only have an outside chance of progressing as one of two best runners up.
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European Rugby Champions Cup Connacht Conor O'Shea Eric Elwood Harlequins Magic Moment Niall O'Connor