sport news Bordeaux 41-42 Harlequins: Quins triumph in Champions Cup thriller and seal ... trends now
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The locals flooded into Stade Chaban-Delmas, booed Marcus Smith and settled back to watch another rout of outclassed English visitors, only to end up witnessing a momentous, historic upset.
This was a bonkers and brilliant quarter-final that went straight into Champions Cup folklore as Harlequins stunned Bordeaux in defiance of all pre-match expectations.
By rights, there should be people lining the streets of Twickenham and Guildford to welcome home director of rugby Billy Millard's conquering heroes. They delivered one of the greatest results ever achieved by a Premiership side in a European competition.
After Bordeaux captain Maxime Lucu's conversion shot for glory drifted wide with four minutes left of this pulsating encounter, played under a scorching sun in front of a crowd of nearly 30,000, Quins - who had led by 16 points - finally established some order for just long enough to seal their glorious feat. They had scored six tries and so had their opponents.
The reward for this thunderous, riotous performance is the prospect of a trip to Toulouse to face Antoine Dupont and Co in the last four, unless Exeter Chiefs can strike another unlikely blow for the Premiership this afternoon. That is certainly what Quins did.
Harlequins pulled off a historic upset to beat Bordeaux and reach the Champions Cup semis
Will Porter ran in two tries for the visitors and deputised for Danny Care at scrum-half superbly
Context is important. Try to make sense of this: three weeks earlier, Millard's men had been thrashed by Saracens at Tottenham Stadium - losing 52-7.
