Harlequins may not have finished top of the league but they absolutely love a sudden-death challenge. Each of their last five games has been win or bust, so the pressure of this weekend's looming Premiership semi-final at Saracens is nothing new. The more people tell them they have no chance, the more fiercely determined they become.
That belief will only be strengthened by Saturday's tense, hard-earned victory over a dismayed Bath. Quins are not edging these physical, close encounters by accident and their No8 Nick Easter sees no reason why they cannot emulate Northampton last year and gatecrash the scheduled Hendon party. "No one's unbeatable," muttered Easter, who is due to make his 233rd appearance for the club, a new Quins appearance record.
Stopping the Saracens tanks will clearly take some doing. Saracens finished the regular season some 20 points clear of both Quins and Bath over 22 games and scored 25 tries more than their opponents this Saturday.
The most telling detail of Quins' season, though, is their impressive defensive record – only Northampton conceded fewer tries – which implies a team with a steely core. If they can get ahead of Sarries early on, life could get very interesting.
That is certainly the view of Conor O'Shea, Quins' director of rugby, who believes the 39-17 defeat to Saracens at Wembley in March painted a false picture of the two sides' respective abilities. Sarries may have scored five tries but several were the product of uncharacteristic Quins errors. "I came away from that confident we could do something if we ever played them again. The blueprint is there; we know what we have to do. Mental strength is a huge thing."
Easter feels similarly, stressing the importance of denying Saracens any cheap points. "They've shown that once they get ahead they're a very difficult side with their blitz defence and kicking game. You can't get cagey against a team like Saracens. That plays into their hands. You have to try and get ahead of them to free the game up, which suits us a bit more. You can't play too much in your own half and you can't be too profligate.
"At Wembley we gifted them their first four tries. You can't feed them anything because they're a bloody good side.
"They haven't lost many games this year and they've rampaged through most of them."
Quins also have some decent momentum, however, not having lost at home since September despite a lengthy list of injuries and international calls. O'Shea believes it would be the club's greatest achievement if they were to add a second title to the one they won in 2012, simply because of the adversity they have overcome. "Up to six weeks ago Conor had never managed to pick the same team twice given our injuries," confirmed Easter. "I've been around long enough to know that if you perform well enough on a given day anything can happen."
Bath, in contrast, now have only the Amlin Challenge Cup final against Northampton in which to gain some tangible reward for a season which has tailed off after a fine start. They did not, ultimately, blow it in round 22 but by failing to beat Saracens, Sale or Northampton at home within the last three months. Mike Ford, their head coach, said he had "never been as disappointed in my life" and did not look as if he was greatly exaggerating.
They will be stronger next season for this bitter experience but paid heavily here for not finishing what they started. Nick Abendanon cut inside rather than going flat out for the corner and Anthony Watson slipped having scythed through the Quins defensive line.
Had anyone shown the same eye for the try-line as George Ford, who scampered through for a classy try early in the second quarter, Quins would have needed to work harder still. Ford Jr, as well as the tight-head David Wilson, should now be available for England's first Test against New Zealand next month but the All Black management will study this game with interest. The talented young fly-half finished with a sore shoulder courtesy of the many heavy runners making a beeline for him and is likely to find Test rugby even less forgiving.
With a draw still potentially on offer, the decision to go for a miracle equalising drop-goal from too far out in the final seconds was also a sign of a team still lacking a touch of composure at the crucial moments. That is not something you could say about Mike Brown, the predictable scorer of Quins' only try after a fine long pass from Danny Care, or the relentless Chris Robshaw. Saracens will still be favourites to reach the final on 31 May, but their opponents will not be easily shrugged off.
Harlequins: Brown; Williams, Molenaar, Turner-Hall, Monye (Smith, 48); Evans (Botica, 75), Care; Marler, Ward, Sickler, (Collier, 76), Matthews, Robson (Kennedy, 76), Fa'asavalu (Guest, 53), Robshaw, Easter.
Try: Brown. Con: Evans. Pens: Evans 4.
Bath: Abendanon (Rokoduguni, 48); Watson, Joseph (Henson, 75), Devoto, Banahan; Ford, Young (Stringer, 53); James, Guinazu (Dunn, h/t), Wilson (Perenise, 53), Hooper (capt; Day, 61), Attwood, Fearns, Mercer (Faosiliva, 58), Houston.
Try: Ford. Con: Ford. Pens: Ford 3.
Sin-bin: Banahan 48.
Referee: W Barnes (RFU). Att: 14,700.
