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Mon 28 May 2012 | 04:28
Harlequins beat Leicester Tigers to win the 2012 Aviva Premiership title

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Harlequins won their first ever Aviva Premiership title as they beat Leicester Tigers 30-23 at Twickenham on Saturday. It's just three years after the scandal of 'Bloodgate', an incident that left their reputation is tatters but now seems a long way away. 

After a frantic first half bathed in sunshine, Harlequins got the better of the closing stages as they held on to defeat a powerful Tigers side that had been in eight successive finals.

Captain Chris Robshaw scored a try, as did Tom Williams, the man at the center of the fake blood scandal. Dean Richards, who was coach at the time and received a three-year ban as a result, will have been watching on with pride as the team he helped build came good.

"Of course we have had our highs and lows it is nice to repay the fans who have stayed so loyal and so great to us," said Man of the Match, Robshaw.

 "We may have been underdogs in most people's eyes but not to us. We were confident we could finish the job off in style – and that’s what we have done. All the boys deserve the credit. I just did my bit. It was a fantastic team effort with commitment and desire."

Director of Rugby Conor O'Shea, who took over from Richards, said that this is just the start for Harlequins, and also praised those who put the structures in place to be able to lead the Premiership since round three, and go on to take the title.

"There was 10 years of ducking and diving to get the club to where it is and there is a long way to go. This can only be the start, that is all it is. Winning this is a massive tribute to a lot of people.

"The owners who have put so much of their time and money in. To Dean Richards who put so many of the structures in place at the club and to Mark Evans and Charles Jillings as well," said O'Shea.

"I am very lucky, I drink a lot of coffee and I enjoy the job I do and the structure around the club."

For Robshaw, this is the start of what he hopes will be a great summer leading his country.

"This is the perfect way for me and the other Quins lads involved in the England squad to fly off to South Africa. It just makes you want to carry on playing rugby and winning games.

"This has been our dream. It has been a long time coming. But it feels wonderful."

Below are the official highlights from Premiership Rugby

Posted By: Grant Constable

7 Comments

  • cheyanqui
    6:21 PM 30/05/2012

    better that than all of the other names.

  • fatprop
    1:08 PM 29/05/2012

    Great match to see, i wonder if marler or corbisiero will start against south africa ?
    On the tuilagi tackle i can't really see why he is being cited, look how large tuilagi is and how small care is. He is bound to go off the ground, but his head wasnt driven into the ground and care got up straight away and kept playing. Its stupid when this happens because offences that happen around the ruck that stop tries illegally never get caught on and so they keep happening, but a rugby tackle could get you banned for a match against south africa just doesnt make sense

  • 11:17 PM 28/05/2012

    Thought care started really strong and youngs finished extremely strong in his match. They both offer more pace and athleticism than Dickson, but he's a better rugby player.

  • mise
    10:56 PM 28/05/2012

    @guy: fair enough, to a point. But would they have won the premiership had they been more severely punished, eg, punished more as a team rather than as individuals, within 3 years of an appropriate punishment? Not sure. They might well be rebuilding well etc, but winning the premiership? Questionable.

  • guy
    8:51 PM 28/05/2012

    My thoughts? It was three years ago. Let it go...

  • stroudos
    8:35 PM 28/05/2012

    I've just heard that Manu Tuilagi's been cited for a tip tackle on Danny Care. About 9 minutes into the game - some of our regular posters here would do their nut if they saw it! I mean Tuilagi's practically cushioned him feet-first to the ground. He's placed Care as delicately on the pitch as a newlywed might place his bride on the honeymoon bed.

    To borrow BuzzKillington's comment on a different tackle a while ago, this feels like normal rugby fans are being collectively trolled.

    What is going through the citing officers' heads, where they think that tackle was worth any more than the penalty Barnesy awarded at the time? It beggars belief and actually this is starting to ruin the game. The officials and administrators need to stop poncing about with this and concentrate on other far more important things. Implementing a mandatory 6-week ban for simulation would be a good start.

  • mise
    8:02 PM 28/05/2012

    Feel a bit conflicted on this. Considering how lightly they were treated over bloodgate, this victory does leave a bit of a taste in the mouth. Their punishment could have been more severe/apt - they only lost that bloodgate match by one point...imagine if they'd won it? How would that have been unraveled?
    Thoughts?

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