London Irish’s relegation from the Aviva Premiership was all but confirmed they were beaten by Harlequins at the Madejski Stadium.
The loss leaves London Irish rooted to the bottom of the table and only the unlikely event of Bedford winning this season’s Greene King IPA Championship would keep them afloat.
Other Championship title hopefuls - Bristol, Yorkshire Carnegie and Doncaster - have all met minimum standards criteria to play in the Premiership next season but, with Bedford not applying to have their ground audited, there is a remote lifeline lingering for London Irish. Bedford are in the end-of-season play-off but they were thrashed 45-16 in the first leg of their semi-final at home to Bristol this afternoon.
In the first half the hosts had no answer to the pace and attacking flair of Harlequins, when they trailed 19-3, but they responded with huge spirit to take their opponents all the way to the wire.
The bonus-point win for Harlequins ensured that, if they beat Exeter Chiefs at home next weekend, they will have a European Champions Cup berth for next season without having to rely on beating Montpellier in the final of the Challenge Cup.
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Charlie Walker scored two tries for the visitors with Ross Chisholm and Kyle Sinckler grabbing one each. Ben Botica added two conversions and kicked a penalty goal with Nick Evans also slotting a penalty goal and a conversion.
Luke Narraway, Asaeli Tikoirotuma and David Paice scored tries for London Irish, with Theo Brophy-Clews kicking two penalty goals and two conversions, but they fell behind after only ten minutes.
A clever pass from Danny Care sent James Horwill through a gap in the home defence before Walker was left with an easy run-in for the opening try. Botica converted before Brophy-Clews put the hosts on the scoreboard with a penalty goal.
After 20 minutes, Harlequins scored their second try thanks to the efforts of Chisholm. First the full back beat three players on a 35-metre run to set up a platform in the opposition 22 and, when the ball was recycled, a clever chip ahead from Chisholm was collected by Walker to score his second.
Two minutes later, Harlequins were over again when Chisholm got himself on the scoresheet as he finished off a flowing three-quarter movement, which had begun in the London Irish half.
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However, the hosts provided a spirited response to score their opening try as Harlequins suffered two blows in quick succession. First Jack Clifford was sin-binned for dragging down a maul before George Lowe left the field for an assessment, which allowed London Irish to capitalise as Narraway finished off a driving maul.
Lowe returned at the same time as Horwill departed with an injury before Tikoirotuma rewarded a sustained period of pressure with a second try for the home team. Brophy-Clews converted before Botica kicked a penalty goal to give Harlequins a 22-15 half-time lead.
London Irish were back on level terms after 55 minutes when Brophy-Clews converted a try from Paice, who crashed over from a driving lineout and they deservedly took the lead for the first time with a Brophy-Clews penalty goal.
However, the last ten minutes saw London Irish cruelly denied as Evans kicked a penalty goal and converted a try from Sinckler after the prop brushed aside a tackle to run 25 metres to the line.