European Challenge Cup/Harlequins 26 Connacht 10:Connacht coach Michael Bradley says he faces plenty of selection headaches ahead of Friday's key Magners Celtic League clash with Edinburgh.
Connacht's attempts to reach the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup were essentially finished before Christmas, but he used the two final pool games, against Bath and Harlequins, to give a run to as many players as possible.
"It has worked out in that context, with every fit member of the squad getting a run at some stage in those two games. Now we have quite a few options as we prepare for Edinburgh.
"Our pack did well and it is good to see home-grown talent like Peter Durcan coming through to this level," said Bradley.
Durcan, a product of the Ballina club and a former Irish under-21 international, made his debut against Bath and scored his first points for the province in front of 9,053 supporters at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday when he converted Connacht's only try. Scrumhalf Conor O'Loughlin scored that try on the hour mark after a superb break from deep inside his own half by centre Gavin Williams.
The conversion from Durcan reduced the deficit to nine points but that was as close as Connacht came to catching a Harlequins side who were also out of contention. Harlequins led 19-3 at the break with their backs displaying a greater cutting edge.
They got off the mark after just four minutes, working the ball through the phases before Welsh international centre Hal Luscombe supplied the finishing touch in the right corner.
Connacht's cause was not helped when outhalf Paul Warwick was forced to hobble off with a knee injury after 17 minutes. Mark McHugh, who moved from the centre to outhalf before going off six minutes after the restart with a leg injury, kicked Connacht's only first-half response when he landed a penalty from the 22 after 19 minutes.
But Harlequins responded with tries from Mike Brown and Stuart Abbott to give them a big interval cushion. Notions that Harlequins might cut loose after the break did not materialise as Connacht upped their performance rate and were rewarded with O'Loughlin's try, but Quins secured a bonus point with a late try from Chris Hala'Ufia.
HARLEQUINS: M Brown; D Strettle, H Luscombe, S Abbott, S Keogh; A Jarvis, A Gomarsall; A Croall, T Fuga, M Ross, O Kohn, N Spanghero, A Vos, P Volley (capt), C Hala'Ufia. Replacements: R Nebbett for Ross, J Evans for Kohn (both 53 mins), W Skinner for Vos (59 mins), U Moyne for Keogh (69 mins), S So'oialo for Gomarsall (75 mins).
CONNACHT: D Riordan; T Robinson, J Hearty, M McHugh, C McPhillips; P Warwick, C O'Loughlin; B Wilkinson, J Fogarty (capt), S Knoop, M Swift, R Strudwick, M Lacey, R Ofisa, B O'Connor. Replacements: G Williams for Warwick inj (17 mins), P Durcan for McHugh inj (46 mins), A Flavin for Fogarty, C Rigney for O'Connor, B Sturgess for Knoop (all 51 mins), C Keane for Robinson (63 mins), A Farley for Swift inj (67 mins).
Referee: David Changleng (Scotland).
