Rugby Union: Liley rewards faith of Dwyer

Leicester 23 Harlequins 13

Leicester's men of letters have come into their own in Europe. Their demolition of Harlequins in a pulsating Heineken Cup quarter-final tie revealed a readiness to learn new tricks from an old dog - their director of coaching, Bob Dwyer.

The ingredients were already there but the Australian has been remodelling. The as yet unfinished article, fired in the kiln of a passionate Welford Road, looked European Championship material against a brave but disappointing Harlequins. The semi-final is against holders Toulouse, probably on 4 January, but the Tigers will be at home and the match is certain to be a 16,000 sell-out after this performance, the second half of which was thankfully captured live by the BBC.

In a sluggish first half the Tigers had to have their tail tweaked by Quins before they got going, and even then they needed the services of the brothers Liley and the brotherhood of their front row - the self-styled ABC club (Leicester carry letters rather than numbers on their shirts) of props Graham Rowntree and Darren Garforth and hooker Richard Cockerill - to claw their way back into the game after they let the London club slip in for two well-taken tries and a 10-3 lead.

John Liley has had the goal-kicking duties taken off him by Dwyer, and younger brother Rob is the new boot boy. But Liley minor, who had missed his last six kicks in the previous European match against Llanelli, made it eight missed out of eight by fluffing his opening penalty attempts on Saturday. That prompted jeers from the home crowd when the outside- half teed up the ball for a third shot at goal on half-time.

Brother John, at the other end, turned to the fans in the new stand and urged them to be quiet while the kick was taken, then when it sailed between the posts he turned once more to the crowd and got them to cheer. "I know what it's like when the crowd is on your back," the full-back said. "It's offputting when your home crowd is booing you for taking a kick when they want to see you run the ball. The crowd always has a go at the kicker but everyone should get behind him. He is merely carrying out the captain's decision."

Leicester have had preliminary talks with South Africa's Test outside- half Joel Stransky and more detailed discussions are planned with a view to signing him. While his presence would add class to the midfield, Rob Liley showed character and the potential to improve. He was not too bothered by the barracking and earned cheers when he scored the second of Tigers' two tries. He landed the kicks that mattered, including the conversion of Cockerill's second-half try which levelled the scores.

By then the Harlequins pack was coming apart at the seams. Their international front row of Laurent Benezech (France), Keith Wood (Ireland) and Jason Leonard (England) - dubbed the LBW club after rearranging of the initial letters of their surnames - failed to tame the Tigers front three. "LBW club? Where's their middle stump now?" Cockerill crowed afterwards.

The Leicester captain, Dean Richards, said: "It was an international front row against a potential international front row, and I know who came out on top today." Dwyer said: "Benezech must have got a lot of mud on his nose because he kept seeking the security of the ground in the scrums."

Leonard presented the Leicester front three with a bottle of champagne afterwards, in honour of the ABC club's 100th match in harness. How much longer before all three are given serious consideration by England?

Leicester: Tries Cockerill, R Liley; Conversions R Liley 2; Penalties R Liley 3. Harlequins: Tries Luger, Carling; Penalty Challinor.

Leicester: J Liley; S Hackney, W Greenwood, S Potter, Lloyd (R Underwood, 64); R Liley, A Healey; G Rowntree, R Cockerill, D Garforth, M Johnson, M Poole (R Field, 56), J Wells, N Back (E Miller, 34), D Richards (capt).

Harlequins: J Staples; D O'Leary, G Connolly, W Carling, D Luger; P Challinor, H Harries; J Leonard (capt), K Wood, L Benezech, G O Llewellyn, G D Llewellyn, R Jenkins, L Cabannes, B Davison.

Referee: C Thomas (Neath).