Skinner praises Quins work ethic

The Guinness Premiership outfit stunned Europe by becoming the first side to win in Paris in the Heineken Cup since Munster in 2002.

And the Quins skipper paid tribute to his team-mates' spirit after the success at the Stade de France.

Skinner said: "It is an unbelieveable win and we could not have asked for anymore from the boys. But it's the work ethic that we have brought in the squad in the last few years.

"We would have lost that a few years ago but we stood up in the final minutes. It's the sign of a good team."

Dean Richards' men now face the French giants in the reverse at the Stoop next Saturday and Skinner said: "We are going straight back home and we're look over this game in the next few days. Next week's game is our priority and I'm sure we will be well up for it."

And team-mate Danny Care revealed the agonising wait before Harlequins secured victory in Paris was the 'longest minute of his life'.

The England scrum-half produced a man-of-the-match performance to help Quins inflict Stade Francais' first home European defeat in 17 matches.

But Care nearly turned from hero to zero as his dissent towards Irish referee Alan Lewis forced the official to overturn a penalty decision with seconds left.

Care said: "It was like a shot to the throat and I thought the game had ended. It was the longest minute of my life but I'm really happy. We wanted to start quickly and we got two tries.

"Then we defended well and that's the best defensive performance we have ever put in. We tried to play our Quins style of rugby and if it was on to play, we played."