Nick Evans on fire

Former All Blacks play maker Nick Evans was the hero for Harlequins as they plucked a stunning, last-gasp 19-17 Heineken Cup victory over French giants Stade Francais.

After the hard decision & leaving an All Blacks jersey behind, life in London seems all goodness for Nick Evans & his boot has the Harlequins on a roll in the European scene.

Play-maker Nick Evans was the hero for Harlequins as they plucked a stunning, last-gasp 19-17 Heineken Cup victory over French giants Stade Francais. This sees him mature in the northern game & ensures he will have no shortage of  new friends with all the Quins supporters.

Evans slotted a dropped goal with time up to snatch a stunning victory for the London-based club, their fourth straight in pool four of the European competition, all but assuring them of progress to the knockout stages.

The Quins now have 17 points to top the pool standings, seven clear of the French club which now faces the likely scenario of having to secure one of the runnerup qualifying spots if they hope to stay in the hunt for the silverware.

In miserable conditions at the Quins' home ground the two clubs played out a thriller that went right down to the wire.

Stade Francais led 14-13 at halftime with a try apiece through the first spell, Noel Oelschig crossing for the French club and Jordan Turner-Hall replying for Quins.

An Evans penalty put Harlequins back in front in the second half, but Juan Martin Hernandez's dropped goal then restored the lead for Stade heading into the final few minutes.

Quins needed something special with the rain falling and Evans delivered it as the English club did incredibly well to sustain possession for something like 30 phases to mount their final tilt at victory.

Twice Evans dummied dropped goals from 45m out to slip through gaps and get his club hot on attack, but when the final opportunity came from a much handier position Dan Carter's former understudy made no mistake and coolly slotted the matchwinner.

He was engulfed by his team-mates after match officials confirmed the dropped goal had gone over, the Quins having backed up last week's victory over Stade in Paris with another one on their home track.