Harlequins 19 Sale 29: Justice is served as Sharks kick Quins out of Heineken Cup

By Chris Foy for the Daily Mail Updated: 19:11 EST, 13 December 2009

Sale have achieved what European Rugby Cup officials had been sorely tempted to do at the start of this season - eject Harlequins from the Heineken Cup.

Three months ago, there were calls for the London club to be thrown out of Europe as punishment for the Bloodgate controversy.

Ultimately, they were spared a boardroom dismissal, but that proved to be a temporary reprieve, as they were consigned to a brutal on-field fate instead. It seems like divine justice.

Fittingly, the telling blow was delivered at The Stoop, Quins' home ground, where the fake-blood incident that blackened their name took place on April 12.

At the end, Tom Williams was on as a replacement, as he had been when he bit into a capsule in the infamous quarter-final against Leinster.

While Sale seized a bonus-point win to set up a three-horse race with Toulouse and Cardiff Blues for last-eight qualification, Quins were left marooned at the bottom of Pool Five on one point.

Cold reality dictates that, after three straight defeats, they are doomed. John Kingston, the hosts' head coach, admitted: 'We are out of Europe - that's just how it is. There's an outside chance we could finish second but I'm not naive enough to think that is going to happen. Today we made it too easy for them.'

Asked if Quins had been subconsciously subdued in the Heineken Cup on the back of Bloodgate, Kingston added: 'Not at all. But when we got to the tournament we were reminded about the sad gremlins in the summer.'

Sale were two tries to the good after 10 minutes. First, Nick Macleod instigated a sweeping attack down the left which ended with Ben Cohen off-loading for Dwayne Peel to stretch over.

Charlie Hodgson converted and did so again after Lee Thomas's deft inside pass released Neil Briggs on the burst and he in turn found Macleod for a routine run-in.

Nick Evans' chip-and-chase solo try halved the deficit but from the re-start Nick Easter fumbled and the outstanding Sale openside, David Seymour, pounced to burst clear and score.

Hodgson converted again and after David Strettle touched down on the right for Quins, the Sharks' captain added a penalty.

Early in the second half, Easter forced his way over, but Sale responded with a scorching counter-attack on 51 minutes.

Mark Cueto sent Hodgson clear, Seymour and Eifion Roberts took it on through the middle, then the ball was shipped left for Cohen to score the bonus-point try.