EVANS HOPING QUINS CAN MAKE IT THIRD TIME LUCKY
Harlequins are hoping to make it third time lucky when they host Irish giants Leinster in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup on Easter Sunday. It is the first time in 11 years that the Londoners have reached the final eight of the competition – and they lost their last two quarter-finals to Leicester Tigers, who defeated them 23-13 in 1997, and Toulouse, 51-10 a year later.
But in All Black fly-half Nick Evans they have a genuine match winner, as evidenced by his performances in Quins’ superb double over Stade Francais in the group stages of the competition. The 28-year-old, who will run out at the Stoop having recovered from an ankle knock, is in confident mood and has urged his team-mates not to let history weigh down on them.
Auckland-born Evans, who joined Quins in the summer, said: “I hope I can help make it third time lucky. But we have a new, young team who don’t pay too much to history. We have already beaten teams that we supposedly shouldn’t have beaten – so for us the history book has been thrown out of the window.
“Leinster have internationals all over the field and we know it is going to be tough. But we are backing ourselves – we are here to win. We are motivated and our thought process has to be positive – we are not here to make up the numbers.
“We are safe to make the Heineken Cup for next year (confirmed by next week?) so we can have a really good crack at it this year. There is no reason why we can’t – we have exceeded all expectations already this year. No one thought we would get this far – it is massive for the club. There is a big buzz around the place and people have not been part of this for a long time.”
Evans picked out Irish centre and captain Brian O’Driscoll as the man Quins have to stop if they want to reach the semi-finals where they will face either Munster or Ospreys in early May. The 15-cap All Black continued: “I thought he had a fantastic Six Nations and showed what class he has, especially when the chips are down. In big games Brian delivers – we will have to concentrate on stopping him.
“He is one of those players who always gives 100 per cent – and New Zealanders look up to players like that and give them the kudos they deserve. He puts his body on the line and brings his A-game most of the time.”
Home advantage, Evans believes, will also play a significant part – Quins have only lost twice this season at the Stoop, both times to London Irish. “We have turned the Stoop into a fortress,” he said. “Leinster will have to play better than us to win – and if that happens we will take it on the chin, because we are at home we should go into the game with confidence.
“Even against a Leinster team who have fantastic players we should not be afraid of them. Though they have lost away a couple of times (to Wasps and Castres) they are a side who have been in this situation before. It’s new for us but we will just play the style of rugby that we know we can. Hopefully we can keep their fans fairly quiet and get our fans up."
Musing on the two victories against Stade Francais, Evans continued: “Those sensational games feel even more special now – when I said that they were up there with the top five that I have ever played in, that was straight after the match. And now I have spoken to many of the fans and they have told me those games are two of the biggest in the club’s history – that has made it even more special. Hopefully we can kick on from those results and know that in big situations we can pull it out if we need to. That belief will help us on Sunday.”
And after nine months in the capital, the former Auckland Blues stand-off is fully settled into London life, though he does miss his fishing. Away from rugby Evans relaxes by going to West End musicals – “the Lion King and Mamma Mia were great, and helped broaden my cultural horizons!” – and catching Premier League football matches.
But he determined to win Quins trophies, and added: “I’ve signed for three years and am very settled and very happy at Quins. We have a young team but I think we have exceeded our goals this year. If we can keep going over the next few years hopefully we can pick up a trophy – that would be amazing. If we win against Leinster we will be one step closer to achieving that – I hope we can play the game we want to play and get the result.”
Harlequins are hoping to make it third time lucky when they host Irish giants Leinster in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup on Easter Sunday. It is the first time in 11 years that the Londoners have reached the final eight of the competition – and they lost their last two quarter-finals to Leicester Tigers, who defeated them 23-13 in 1997, and Toulouse, 51-10 a year later.
But in All Black fly-half Nick Evans they have a genuine match winner, as evidenced by his performances in Quins’ superb double over Stade Francais in the group stages of the competition. The 28-year-old, who will run out at the Stoop having recovered from an ankle knock, is in confident mood and has urged his team-mates not to let history weigh down on them.
Auckland-born Evans, who joined Quins in the summer, said: “I hope I can help make it third time lucky. But we have a new, young team who don’t pay too much to history. We have already beaten teams that we supposedly shouldn’t have beaten – so for us the history book has been thrown out of the window.
“Leinster have internationals all over the field and we know it is going to be tough. But we are backing ourselves – we are here to win. We are motivated and our thought process has to be positive – we are not here to make up the numbers.
“We are safe to make the Heineken Cup for next year (confirmed by next week?) so we can have a really good crack at it this year. There is no reason why we can’t – we have exceeded all expectations already this year. No one thought we would get this far – it is massive for the club. There is a big buzz around the place and people have not been part of this for a long time.”
Evans picked out Irish centre and captain Brian O’Driscoll as the man Quins have to stop if they want to reach the semi-finals where they will face either Munster or Ospreys in early May. The 15-cap All Black continued: “I thought he had a fantastic Six Nations and showed what class he has, especially when the chips are down. In big games Brian delivers – we will have to concentrate on stopping him.
“He is one of those players who always gives 100 per cent – and New Zealanders look up to players like that and give them the kudos they deserve. He puts his body on the line and brings his A-game most of the time.”
Home advantage, Evans believes, will also play a significant part – Quins have only lost twice this season at the Stoop, both times to London Irish. “We have turned the Stoop into a fortress,” he said. “Leinster will have to play better than us to win – and if that happens we will take it on the chin, because we are at home we should go into the game with confidence.
“Even against a Leinster team who have fantastic players we should not be afraid of them. Though they have lost away a couple of times (to Wasps and Castres) they are a side who have been in this situation before. It’s new for us but we will just play the style of rugby that we know we can. Hopefully we can keep their fans fairly quiet and get our fans up."
Musing on the two victories against Stade Francais, Evans continued: “Those sensational games feel even more special now – when I said that they were up there with the top five that I have ever played in, that was straight after the match. And now I have spoken to many of the fans and they have told me those games are two of the biggest in the club’s history – that has made it even more special. Hopefully we can kick on from those results and know that in big situations we can pull it out if we need to. That belief will help us on Sunday.”
And after nine months in the capital, the former Auckland Blues stand-off is fully settled into London life, though he does miss his fishing. Away from rugby Evans relaxes by going to West End musicals – “the Lion King and Mamma Mia were great, and helped broaden my cultural horizons!” – and catching Premier League football matches.
But he determined to win Quins trophies, and added: “I’ve signed for three years and am very settled and very happy at Quins. We have a young team but I think we have exceeded our goals this year. If we can keep going over the next few years hopefully we can pick up a trophy – that would be amazing. If we win against Leinster we will be one step closer to achieving that – I hope we can play the game we want to play and get the result.”
Labels: Heineken Cup, Leinster, London Harlequins, Nick Evans
