O’Shea hails Quins after European win

Boss Conor O’Shea was thrilled with the ambitious rugby Harlequins played as they started their Champions Cup campaign with an impressive 25-9 win over Castres.

Quins mastered both the wet weather and their French opponents to ease to victory at The Stoop thanks to 18 points from the boot of Nick Evans and a second-half try from Danny Care.

O’Shea, whose side have won three and lost three so far this season and lie seventh in the Premiership, said: “Our scrum and line-out were excellent and we were really ambitious with the way we played in that first half.

“We have a long way to go, we know that, but this was a real step forward.”

The hosts dominated the first half of the opening game of the new premier European tournament, but a combination of wayward passing and fine French tackling meant the scores were level at 6-6 at the interval.

However, after Evans extended the lead by a further six points, England scrum-half Care ran on to an Evans kick to go over and effectively secure the points.

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