England star Marcus Smith shone in Harlequins' 28-24 victory over Glasgow Warriors, sealing their place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
Smith built up a 21-7 interval lead for Quins, with the fly-half scoring two tries and a dynamic solo score to put Quins in complete control of the last-16 encounter.
But at the Stoop, where they almost lost a 37-point lead against Bath in the Premiership six days ago, another implosion left fans in the lurch.
Click here for scorers
Johnny Matthews and George Horne pounced on Glasgow and the United Rugby Championship second-placed side were back in the lead when Horne converted a penalty in the 60th minute.
However, Harlequins made another great escape with substitute hooker Sam Riley brought on with five minutes left and man-of-the-match Smith converted, sealing a place in the last eight against Saracens or Bordeaux Begles. Ta.
Evidence of what would be a high-scoring match came in the third minute when fly-half Tom Jordan preluded by dancing through the home defense and locking in Scott Cummings' close-range cross.
Quins' fragility was on display and although they showed more intent in sustained attacks, a lack of discipline and poor execution twice allowed Glasgow to escape.
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The match continued at a frenetic pace, with Glasgow lacking the skill to match their ambitions in one move, but Quins beat a promising move down the right flank and Kaydan Marley tipped the ball over the line. I saw it drop.
However, the pressure on the visitors' whitewash increased and there was a crack in the 23rd minute when Andre Esterhuizen collected Smith's chip and touched down into the right-hand corner.
Taking advantage of Sione Tuipulotu's offside sin-binning, Smith then danced around four tacklers and even had time to recover the ball that flew out of his hands before touching down as Quins attacked from a five-metre scrum. Ta.
Zinc🕺
Juggle 🤹@MarcuSmith10 That's where I show off my skills 👏#HARvGLA #InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/AK56ei5jUz
— TNT Sports Rugby (@rugbyontnt) April 5, 2024
And on the stroke of half-time they scored their third try. In slippery conditions, Smith's sharp hands brought Marley close to the line with a lineout drive before an easy finish.
Glasgow took the lead after half-time and were rewarded with a maul try from Matthews in the 50th minute, making the score difference less ominous when Horne converted.
The score was level two minutes later, with Horne converting a bold move down the left flank to extend his own try.
Quins wobbled and their ability to take a big lead was once again on display, and Horne's penalty put the Scottish team back in front, but Joe Marler was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Rory Darge.
Glasgow looked for a blinding score but instead had a chance to get past Reilly when Quins ran out of their own half and fullback Josh McKay fumbled in the backfield.
team
Harlequin: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Lewis Reiner, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kaydan Marley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Stefan Lewis (c), 5 George Hammond, 4 Arne Herbst, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Finn Baxter
Replacement: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Joe Launchberry, 20 Will Trenholm, 21 Tom Roday, 22 Max Green, 23 Cameron Anderson
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Steyn (c), 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Rowe, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Xander Fagerson, 2 Johnny Matthews, 1 Nathan McBeth
Replacement: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Lucio Soldoni, 19 Sintu Mangezi, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Henco Venter, 22 Jamie Dobbie, 23 Duncan Weir
Referee: Toual Trainy (France)
Assistant referee: Ludovic Caillet (France), Flavien Urke (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzan (France)
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