Harlequins 22 Chiefs 6

Harlequins 22

Exeter Chiefs 6

Mark Stevens at Twickenham

Given the spectacular Twickenham stage to showcase their talents, Exeter Chiefs suffered a terrible bout of stage fright as rivals Harlequins stole the headlines in BIg Game 6.

Forget all the pre-match hype of X-Factor stars Sam Bailey and Luke Friend producing the perfect on-field performance, instead it was Conor O'Shea's men who dazzled the masses at English Rugby HQ

First half tries from Nick Evans, Charlie Walker, Mike Brown did the main damage and ensured the home side of not only their seventh Aviva Premiership victory of the season, but that they would head into the New Year amongst the division's top four.

Evans kicked the remainder of their points with two conversions and a penalty; whilst Exeter's response was a penalty in each half from Gareth Steenson.

It was, in truth, a disappointing day at the office for Rob Baxter's men, but the Chiefs leader will know it's another experience ticked off in the grand scheme of things as the Devonians look to push forward.

Having returned to winning ways against Newcastle Falcons the previous week, Baxter recalled experienced duo Tom Johnson and Jason Shoemark to the Chiefs starting line-up with Kai Horstmann and Sam Hill the men to make way.

Harlequins also made changes to their side from that which had lost at Bath last time out. Into the fold came Tom Casson, Will Collier and Danny Care, the latter of whom was one of six home players featuring in their sixth Big Game experience at the home of English rugby.

With the personnel in place and the bumper crowd having been royally warmed up pre-game, it was onto the action itself in which the Chiefs quickly spelt out their attacking ambitions.

The opening two minutes belonged solely to Baxter's side as they backed themselves to power themselves out of their own half with wave upon wave of attacks. The tactic, initially, looked solid enough, but when they were turned over just yards from their own line, Quins' pounced to deadly effect as Care's quick-thinking at the ruck released the home back division, the beneficiary of whom was former All Black Evans, who was able to coast over the opening try, which he also converted with aplomb with just three minutes played.

It was hardly the start the Chiefs would have envisaged on their first visit back to Twickenham since 2008, but they made light of the setback and reduced the deficit within minutes as fly-half Steenson landed a penalty after Shoemark was upended by a no-arm tackle from Matt Hopper.

That, however, would be a rare high point for the Chiefs in a first half in which Harlequins certainly held the upper hand. The Londoners were vibrant in attack and had Evans been more accurate with his right boot, O'Shea's side could easily have been out of sight by the break.

The normally deadly Kiwi kicker failed with two penalty chances, the first floating wide of the near post, whilst the second his mis-kicked and it fell well short of the intended target.

In between all that, Casson was held just short after Care and Sam Smith linked well to release the centre; then Brown butchered a certain try for the hosts when he opted to go alone rather than feed the unmarked Walker outside of him.

Not that Walker had to wait long to get onto the scoresheet, the Quins' speedster racing over for try number two when he latched onto a pass from Hopper to make it 12-3.

The Chiefs were all at sea and their cause was not helped when - following a check with the TMO official from referee J-P Doyle - Cornishman Jack Nowell was dispatched to the cooler for ten minutes for his tip-tackle on Hopper in the build-up to that score.

Down a man, the Chiefs were bravely holding on as the game headed towards the break. However, just as though they looked they had done enough, smart-thinking from England international Care saw him snipe clear of a ruck just inside the Exeter half - and with the Chiefs defence sparse in numbers, the Quins' No.9 was able to offload to team-mate Brown, who dived in under the sticks for a third try, again converted by Evans.

HALF TIME     HARLEQUINS 19        EXETER CHIEFS 3

With plenty to do to rectify their first half efforts, the Chiefs wasted little time in looking to claw back the home lead. Early pressure was intense and rewarded as Steenson doubled his tally for the day with a lengthy penalty after Harlequins fell foul of Doyle just inside their own half.

Harlequins - playing like Harlem Globetrotters at times with their array of exquisite passing - quickly looked to counter through Brown and Smith, but the Chiefs were this time holding firm under the pressure.

Baxter threw on Messrs Whitehead, Hanks and Vainikolo to inject some life into his side, but it was to no avail as Harlequins cleverly positioned themselves back deep inside the Exeter half.

Although they turned down one kickable penalty in favour of a kick to the corner, England captain Chris Robshaw didn't repeat the tactic when afforded the chance again just past the hour mark. This time Evans stepped forward to land the three-pointer and make it 22-6.

That score seemed to awaken the Chiefs from their slumber as first Arscott (pictured) cut through the middle with a searing run; then Nowell looked to find a way through with an arcing run from deep.

It was indeed better stuff from the Chiefs who then came within a whisker of claiming their first try when full-back Arscott just failed to hold onto a fizzing pass from replacement fly-half Henry Slade in the right-hand corner.

All of a sudden it was now the visitors who had the hammer down in attack, launching a string of raids behind enemy lines. Harlequins, though, were doing everything in their power to repel their rivals. It wasn't always legal, but they didn't care one bit and their resolute defence was rewarded when Johnson was turned over on the home line as he looked to go over from a quick tap penalty.

Although both sides huffed sand puffed for reward in the dying embers the scoreboard remained untouched and the festive crowd instead turned their attentions to endless rounds of the Mexican wave.

A late sour point for the Chiefs was a serious-looking knee injury for replacement prop Brett Sturgess, who was carted from the field of play with just seconds remaining. As yet it's not known the full extent of his woes, but it was hardly the end to the year he would have planned.

For the Chiefs, it gets no easier in the quest for further points, next stop for them is a trip to High Wycombe where London Wasps lay in wait.

Harlequins: M Brown; C Walker, M Hopper, T Casson (B Botica 79), S Smith (O Lindsay-Hague 74); N Evans, D Care (K Dickson 56); J Marler (M Lambert 65), D Ward, W Collier (P Doran Jones 65); C Matthews (N Kennedy 61), G Robson; L Wallace (T Guest 74), C Robshaw (capt), N Easter. Replacements (not used): M Crumpton.

Tries - Evans, Walker, Brown; Conversions - Evans (2); Penalty - Evans

Chiefs: L Arscott; J Nowell, I Whitten, J Shoemark, T James (F Vainikolo 54); G Steenson (H Slade 61), H Thomas (W Chudley 33); B Moon (B Sturgess 61), J Yeandle (C Whitehead 52), H Tui (A Brown 61); D Mumm (capt), D Welch (J Hanks 54); T Johnson, B White, D Ewers (K Horstmann 74).

Penalties - Steenson (2)

Yellow Card: Nowell

Referee: J-P Doyle

Attendance: 74,879

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIEFS: v London Wasps (A), Aviva Premiership, Sunday, January 5 (3pm)