Quins come back to stun Saints in semi-final

Harlequins staged a late rally to beat Northampton 25-23 on Saturday and so reach a first English Premiership final. Quins were eight points down with 12 minutes left at their Stoop home ground but sealed victory when prop Joe Marler was driven over for a converted try in the 76th minute. Marler is in England's squad for next month's tour of South Africa and Harlequins coach Conor O'Shea said: "Joe Marler has been a special talent for a long time. "He is 21. He will still learn lessons but he learns quickly. "In the loose, in his carries and in his tackling he is a very unique talent and England are lucky to have him. "Our scrum was so dominant," added former Ireland full-back O'Shea, who insisted he hadn't given up hope when Quins were eight points behind. "I thought if we could get any sort of field position (we could win). In the last 10 minutes we started to play the way we can." Defeat meant a third straight Premiership semi-final loss for Northampton, who were also beaten in the final last season by Leinster. "It was always going to be tricky but when you get eight points ahead you think you have a chance," said Northampton coach Jim Mallinder. "If you watch some of Quins' recent games you will be impressed by their scrum. It has improved enormously. They put us under a lot of pressure." The Saints went eight points in front of Quins, who finished top of the regular season table, when England scrum-half Lee Dickson rounded off a 50-metre attack with a try that left the visitors 23-15 in front. But, significantly, Ryan Lamb missed the ensuing conversion and it was Harlequins scrum-half Karl Dickson, Lee's older brother, who ended up on the winning side. Former All Blacks fly-half Nick Evans kicked his sixth penalty to take Quins to within striking distance before another penalty, this time kicked to touch, set up a lineout on the edge of Saints' 22. Quins won their throw and Marler was driven forward and over the line. Importantly, he'd also been driven infield which made the conversion a routine one for Evans and Harlequins maintained their discipline for the closing minutes to seal victory. They will make the trip 'across the road' to Twickenham for a final against either champions Saracens or Leicester, playing later Saturday, on May 26.