Harlequins 21 Chiefs 32

 

Harlequins 21

Exeter Chiefs 32

Mark Stevens at the Twickenham Stoop

Rob Baxter admitted afterwards if he could bottle the desire shown by his players in this display, then it would be a remedy coaches around the world would be keen to dish out by the spoonful.

Exeter Chiefs moved back into the top four of the Aviva Premiership with a hard fought victory over Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.

Another masterful display from fly-half Henry Slade saw the young playmaker help himself to 27 points on the day, whilst flanker Ben White weighed in with the other score during an action-packed first half.

Harlequins played their part in an absorbing contest, Nick Evans claiming 16 points alongside a second half score from Matt Hopper, but it was never enough to deny the Devonians, who even had to withstand three yellow cards on the day.

Having returned to winning ways in the top flight with an impressive 46-17 win over Newcastle Falcons, it was little surprise that Baxter stuck with an unchanged starting XV for their trip to the capital. Indeed, the sole change in personnel came on the bench where Dave Lewis was preferred to  Haydn Thomas back-up scrum-half.

Quins, meanwhile, were able to welcome back England international Nick Easter to skipper their side at No.8, whilst former Cornish Pirates forward Dave Ward was given the nod at hooker.

Keen to bounce back after their 37-6 trouncing at Wasps, it was the Londoners who opened up the brighter of the two sides. Early attacking  raids failed to bring reward due to some stout Exeter defence, but when visiting wing Ian Whitten was harshly sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on as he looked to tackle Luke Wallace, it allowed Harlequins the opportunity to strike through the deadly Evans.

The former All Black slotted the resultant penalty before threatening again when he charged down Slade’s intended clearance in midfield. Hacking the loose ball forward, the experienced No.10 just missed out in the subsequent sprint race to the line as Phil Dollman raced back to touchdown just ahead of him.

It was certainly a let-off for Baxter’s men, who were then reduced to 13 men when Dollman was the second Chief sent to the cooler by referee Matt Carley for a no-arm tackle on Marland Yarde as he looked to cross in the right corner.

Almost immediately Harlequins made their numerical advantage tell as they exploited the gaps out wide in the Exeter defensive line to send Evans cruising over for the opening try, which he was unable to convert.

Up against it, the Chiefs needed a rapid response and it arrived straight from the restart as home centre Matt Hopper was pulled up for holding on in the tackle. Up stepped the ice-cool Slade, who dispatched a sublime long-range penalty with the minimum amount of fuss.

Two minutes later and the visitors got themselves in front as White ploughed through the middle of a line-out to charge down Danny Care’s box-kick and then pounce on the loose ball to score the try.

Slade landed the easy conversion, but then saw a second long-range penalty cannon back off the right post after the home side had strayed offside following Will Chudley’s hanging box kick.

The young playmaker, though, made amends on the half-hour mark when he slotted his second penalty of the game only for Evans to follow suit after Jack Nowell had been singled out as the culprit for a high tackle on Ward.

As half time closed in, the Chiefs thought they had claimed their second try of the afternoon when Dollman stole over in the left corner. Sadly, the Welshman was denied, supposedly for a forward pass called by the touch judge.

The fact the officials failed to check with the TV official was telling as replays late showed Chudley’s pass was indeed behind play. Harlequins were duly awarded the scrum, but they made a hash of the set-piece and the Chiefs pounced instantly as they won the scrum themselves, winning a penalty that Slade landed with the last kick of the half.

HALF TIME HARLEQUINS 11 EXETER CHIEFS 16

The second half proved equally lively as first Exeter centre Sam Hill produced an unbelievable cover tackle to deny a certain Harlequins try; then Exeter’s free-scoring No.8 Thomas Waldrom saw a potential 11th try of the season chalked off by the officials for a forward pass earlier in the build-up.

Exeter made light of the two missed chances to finally claim their second try of the game on 49 minutes when strong running from Waldrom, Whitten, then Nowell, saw the latter release Slade who was able to glide over the home line with ease. The Exeter fly-half banged over the extras to put his side in control at 23-11.

Evans briefly reduced the arrears when he slotted a third penalty after Nowell was adjudged not to have released at the tackle area, but back roared the Chiefs as Slade added two quickfire penalties in as many minutes to put his side 15 points clear by the hour mark.

Harlequins, to their credit, refused to lie down and sensing a way back into the contest, they threw caution to the wind and set about attacking their rivals from Devon at will.

Initially the Chiefs did well to repel the threat, fending off wave upon wave of home attacks, but finally O’Shea’s men found their way through when former Plymouth Albion centre Hopper somehow squeezed over in the left corner for the converted score.

But no sooner had Quins given themselves a lifeline back into the contest, they shot themselves in the foot as replacement Ollie Lindsay-Hague looked to race out of his own 22 at pace. Sadly, he didn’t see one of his colleagues in his path and referee Carley had no option but to award the penalty that Slade duly dispatched.

Although the contest was effectively over, Harlequins continued to pour forward in pursuit of some late reward. The Chiefs were having none of it - even though they did lose Waldrom to a late yellow card.

Man mountain Ewers was seemingly everywhere, but he was just one of the stand-out performers in what was a vintage away-day performance.

Now, it’s back to Sandy Park and the small matter of finally overcoming rivals Bath in the top flight for the first time next Saturday.

Harlequins: U Monye (O Lindsay-Hague 55); M Yarde, M Hopper, T Casson (B Botica 44), C Walker; N Evans, D Care (K Dickson 69); M Lambert, D Ward, K Sinckler; C Matthews (N Talei 51), G Robson; J Clifford, L Wallace (J Trayfoot 69), N Easter (capt). Replacements (not used): R Buchanan, D Marfo, M Shields.

Tries - Evans, Hopper; Conversion - Evans; Penalties - Evans (3)

Chiefs: P Dollman (B McGuigan 47); I Whitten, J Nowell, S Hill, M Jess; H Slade, W Chudley (D Lewis 69); B Moon (C Rimmer 51), L Cowan-Dickie (J Yeandle 57), T Francis (A Brown 69); D Mumm (capt), D Welch (M Lees 64); D Ewers (T Johnson 36-40), B White (T Johnson 69), T Waldrom. Replacement (not used): G Steenson.

Tries - White, Slade; Conversions - Slade (2); Penalties - Slade (6)

Yellow Cards: Whitten, Dollman, Waldrom

Referee: M Carley

Attendance: 14,800

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIEFS: v Bath (H), Aviva Premiership, Saturday, February 28 (3:15pm)