Harlequins fell to a 23-12 defeat at the hands of a tough Racing 92 outfit in the French capital.
Harlequins kicked off their Investec Champions Cup campaign with a third visit to Paris in as many years, the only difference to last year’s encounter being the venue. 2024’s instalment was played out at a damp Stade Dominique Douchavelle instead of the Parisian’s usual home, La Defense Arena.
Despite the weather striving to put a dampener on the occasion, Quins came out of the blocks firing as they enjoyed a sustained period of pressure throughout the opening ten minutes.
Their dominance was capped by a try from skipper Alex Dombrandt after peeling off the back of a driving maul to rumble over (0-5).
Racing’s response came a little over five minutes later as a move started by Max Spring’s deft crossfield kick was finished by the trailing Nolan Le Garrec, who converted his own score (7-5).
Harlequins continued to dominate possession and territory for the majority of the first period. Dombrandt again went close with a burst down the right flank, before Cunningham-South’s attempt to score was held up over the line.
However, Racing carved out an opportunity to extend their slim lead before the half was up as the ball was whisked wide for Wame Naituvi to slide in (12-5).
With little over two minutes played in the second half, Quins were level. A trademark dart through the defensive wall from Will Porter saw the scrum-half expertly finish from the edge of the twenty-two (12-12).
Soon after, Quins would enter a solid ten-minute period of defence as Racing looked to turn the screw with a man advantage following Lennox Anyanwu’s yellow card for upending Ibrahim Diallo.
During the sin-bin period, Le Garrec added a penalty before Spring collected a cross-field kick to open a 20-12 lead in favour of the Parisians with twenty minutes left to play.
A further penalty from the boot of Le Garrec stretched the hosts’ lead to 11 points – the winning margin come full-time.
Scorers:
Racing 92: Tries: Nolann le Garrec, Wame Naituvi, Max Spring. Conversion: Nolann le Garrec. Penalties: Nolann le Garrec (2)
Harlequins: Tries: Alex Dombrandt, Will Porter. Conversion: Marcus Smith.
Teams:
Racing 92: 15 Max Spring, 14 Vinaya Habosi, 13 Gael Fickou (c), 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Wame Naituvi, 10 Antoine Gibert, 9 Nolann le Garrec, 8 Jordan Joseph, 7 Ibrahim Diallo, 6 Cameron Woki, 5 Fabien Sanconnie, 4 Boris Palu, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Janick Tarrit, 1 Guram Gogichashvili. Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Lino Julien, 18 Gia Kharaishvili, 19 Maxime Baudonne, 20 Noa Zinzen, 21 Clovis le Bail, 22 Dan Lancaster, 23 Tristan Tedder.
Harlequins: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Nick David, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Jack Kenningham, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Wyn Jones. Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Titi Lamoistele, 19 James Chisholm, 20 Will Evans, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Oscar Beard.