Harlequins have had a desperate season but last night they skipped along the relegation tightrope with barely a hint of a wobble. It will now take a string of unexpected results elsewhere to deprive them of their Zurich Premiership status, and it is Leeds who now find themselves the side with most to do over the season's final eight days.
Overcoming their inevitable pre-match nerves, Quins were good value for their five-try win, even adding a precious bonus point en route to the heady heights of ninth place. Saracens and, most tellingly, Bath now lie beneath them, and if Leeds can scramble a win from one of their final two games it may yet be the west country side who go down.
Quins supporters have waited virtually the entire season for their leading men to fire in the Premiership and on this occasion the likes of Will Greenwood and Keith Wood triumphantly delivered.
Greenwood scored one try and created his side's first for Matt Moore before Wood surged over for two second-half tries to give his side an impregnable cushion. It was Nick Greenstock's fourth try with 15 minutes left, however, which earned Quins their extra point and left Leeds facing the drop unless they can beat either Sale or Gloucester.
Quins, with redundancies and potentially disturbing balance sheets hanging over them in the event of defeat, were glad to have their chief accumulator Paul Burke back after a foot injury as they sought to nourish their woeful recent record of one win in their last 12 league games.
As for Leeds, who had travelled down as early as Wednesday to prepare for the game, the dark, threatening clouds overhead prompted them into a significant late switch at fly-half. Steve Bachop can be a clever distributor and a shrewd tactical head but Phil Davies decided to use Braam van Straaten's heftier boot at No10 and leave the Samoan on the bench.
As expected, the two specialist kickers were swiftly in action, swapping penalties within the first five minutes. When Burke opened the scoring, one Quins supporter turned to his neighbour and said: "How long left?" This might have been amusing in other circumstances; last night it sounded like a genuine factual inquiry.
Watching Van Straaten kick a second radar-like penalty from wide on the right and close to halfway, the home sections of the sell-out crowd grew understandably hushed and less than quarter of an hour had elapsed before the public address announcer was demanding more noise. Quins, though, were already enjoying more possession and territory, reducing Leeds to occasional forays upfield.
Burke's second penalty was immediately trumped by a Van Straaten drop-goal which clipped the left-hand upright on the way over, but in the 24th minute Quins finally gained the tension-easing try they craved, Greenwood's cross-kick sailing perfectly into the arms of Moore and giving the former Sale man a clear run to the line.
The conversion attempt by Burke squirted wide but by now Quins were growing in assurance. The scrum-half Matt Powell had what appeared a perfectly good try ruled out when the referee decided that his close-range dive had been held up, but Burke was immediately spot on with a drop-goal and with half-time approaching there was even better to come.
Tony Diprose then supplied Greenwood with a long pass which allowed the England man time and space to dummy his way over at the posts. Instead of 14-9, the gap was now 12 points and Leeds were under no illusions as to which way the tide was flowing.
It got worse when Wood came charging around the back of a lineout, and Scott Benton's brave try for Leeds, converted by Van Straaten, was never any more than a small consolation.
Quins' chief executive Mark Evans refuses to concede his side are now safe. "It has improved our situation but it hasn't remedied it. I am pleased, but I'm also irritated to be in this position." Davies, meanwhile, is also taking nothing for granted. "We can either lay down and roll over or we can come back fighting, and that's what we intend to do. Hopefully at 5pm next Sunday we're still going to be in this competition." Joel Jutge will become the second French referee to control a Heineken Cup final when he takes charge of Leicester v Munster at the Millennium Stadium on May 25.
Harlequins: Gollings; Jewell, Greenstock, Greenwood, Moore; Burke (Slemen, 75), Powell; Leonard (Starr, 75), Wood (capt; Fuga, 78), Olver, Morgan (Winters, 66), Codling, White-Cooper, Tiatia (Sheriff, 58), Diprose.
Tries: Moore, Greenwood, Wood 2, Greenstock. Cons: Burke 3. Pens: Burke 2. Drop-goal: Burke.
Leeds: Benson; Scarbrough, Davies (Bachop, 55), Mulder, Woof (Hall, 44); Van Straaten, Benton (O'Reilly, 74); Shelley (capt), Holt, Kerr (Wring, 44), C Murphy, P Murphy, Mather, Hyde, Feaunati.
Try: Benton. Con: Van Straaten. Pens: Van Straaten 2. Drop-goal: Van Straaten.
Referee: C White (Cheltenham). Att: 7,255.
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