Harlequins director of rugby Conor O’Shea reckons a successful Premiership title defence will be a greater achievement than the club’s maiden championship win last year.
Tries from Tom Williams, Rob Buchanan and Tom Casson were enough to withstand a Northampton Saints fightback, as Quins ended the regular season with a 22-19 triumph at the Stoop on Saturday.
The win meant O’Shea’s men finished third in the table to secure a semi-final trip to Leicester Tigers this weekend for a place in the final at Twickenham on May 25.
Quins finished the campaign with three straight wins after being dumped out of the Heineken Cup on home turf by Munster.
And O’Shea admitted his men were coming good at the right time.
“We went away straight away after the Munster game to try and focus. We could have let the season drift,” he said.
“We’ve won more games this season than last season as a senior team. Maybe not in the league – we’ve only won 15 as opposed to 17 last year – but as a senior team.”
Defence: Mike Brown, who has been selected for the England tour of Argentina, in action in the win over Northampton Saints SP73030
On his side’s prospects for another title win, he said: “This would be a greater achievement than last year. The way we have defended our title and the way the players have gone about it so far is a credit to them.
“Teams always seem to have their best sides out against us and play with intent and intensity, but we’ve kept on coming back.”
Injured skipper Chris Robshaw faces a race against time to be fit for the trip to Welford Road, as he bids to prove a point following his omission from coach Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions squad for this summer’s tour to Australia.
Race against time: England and Harlequins skipper Chris Robshaw has been struggling with an ankle injury ahead SP73014
The England captain, who has been struggling with an ankle injury, is expected to begin running on Tuesday, but O’Shea is confident he has the personnel to worry the Tigers should he fail to make the cut.
“He is pretty close, but if he doesn’t quite make it, Luke Wallace was magnificent against Northampton and we’ve got Mo Fa’asavalu and Tom Guest,” he said.
“Robbo is desperate to play and to get back out doing what he does best.”
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