London Irish will face Leicester in the Premiership final after sealing a comfortable 17-0 victory over Harlequins in Saturday's semi-final at the Twickenham Stoop.
After 42 minutes, six missed penalties and two changes of kicker, it was Irish who finally took control when Delon Armitage booted Irish ahead.
Substitute second row James Hudson crossed to put the Exiles in the driving seat and when Mike Catt added the second in a dominant final quarter it was all over.
Irish finished third in the Premiership, one place behind Quins, but they possessed greater nous than their London rivals, who saw four kickable first-half penalties go begging.
Two of them were missed by former All Black Nick Evans who was passed fit to play after four weeks out with a thigh strain but was clearly not operating at full throttle.
Irish march on, however, with a place in the Twickenham final looming next Saturday, when they will start as underdogs against a Leicester side who dispatched Bath 24-10.
Evans' two routine misses came before Danny Care was the victim of a high tackle, sparking a mass brawl.
Exiles openside Steffon Armitage was denied by a try-saving tackle and his brother Delon set up a chance for Sailosi Tagicakibau only for the Samoan winger to drop the ball over the line.
The woeful kicking continued as Peter Hewat attempted to make Evans feel better by missing two simple penalties.
Irish's problems continued when a sly trip on Care as he took a quick penalty saw Tagicakibau sin-binned.
The duck was finally broken two minutes after the interval, Delon Armitage hitting the target to send the Exiles 3-0 ahead.
And the lead increased when Quins' defence, stretched as Irish changed the point of attack, opened up for substitute Hudson to storm over, with Delon Armitage converting.
Irish would not be denied their second try, Catt intercepting a pass by Gomarsall to cross under the posts and Delon Armitage dispatched the final conversion.
Copyright 2009 AFP European Edition
