Harlequins director of rugby Conor O'Shea has claimed that he felt "devastated" for his players after they slumped to a third successive league defeat on Friday evening.
The reigning Aviva Premiership champions lost 17-15 to Gloucester at Kingsholm, meaning that they will drop to fourth in the league table if Northampton beat Leicester at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday.
O'Shea was left fuming after a Quins try was disallowed for a knock-on just before half time.
"It was a try, which would have made it 19-3. That's life," said O'Shea. "I can't wait to talk to Ed Morrison (the Rugby Football Union's elite referees' manager), but you don't want to be talking about that now after watching what was a cracking game of rugby.
"I am devastated for the players. Both teams were magnificent in the way they went about the game, with massive ambition. It was like two heavyweight boxers slugging it out, and that's the way to me you want rugby played.
"There is so much I want to go into about that game, but you don't want to take away from the game. If we play like that for the rest of the season, we will be very happy because I think we will be right where we need to be."
Harlequins had never previously lost three consecutive games during O'Shea's three-year reign.
Robert Summerscales
