Chiefs Women 27 Harlequins Women 0
Exeter Chiefs Women 27
Harlequins Women 0
Mark Stevens at Sandy Park
The weather may have been miserable, but the smile on Susie Appleby’s face at the final whistle was certainly a bright spot.
Exeter’s head coach watched on with glowing satisfaction as her side clocked up a fourth successive Allianz Premier 15s victory against in-form Harlequins.
The Chiefs did the signficiant damage in the first half, bagging the bonus point by the turn thanks to tries from Maisy Allen (2), Cliodhna Moloney and Hope Rogers. However, they were equally impressive in the second period, providing a miserly resistance than even Ebenezer Scrooge would have been proud of.
This latest win ensured the Devonians not only maintained their pursuit of leaders Gloucester-Hartpury, but at the same inflicted a decent hammer blow on a Harlequins side, who themselves had come into the game on the back of wins against Sale Sharks, Saracens and Loughborough Lightning.
With first use of a howling down-field wind, the Chiefs were quickly into their attacking stride. Forward dominance was the order or the day, but it was England international Claudia MacDonald who offered the first meaningful threat.
The Red Roses winger was quickest to react on a loose ball and set off a rate of knots down the right flank. Her fancy footwork enabled her to make decent ground towards the try-line. Sadly for her, the touch judge had spotted a foot over the line and a try so early on her home debut was quickly chalked off.
Undeterred, the hosts continued to pile forward and they were rewarded on ten minutes when, following a prolonged period of pressure deep inside the Harlequins 22, Allan was able to burrow her way over from a close-range, pick-and-go. Fly-half Liv McGoverne converted to ensure maximum reward.
One soon became two as the home side extended their lead midway through the half. With the Chiefs dominating the set-piece, it allowed them to use the succession of penalties to position themselves deep into enemy territory.
Harlequins were acutely aware of what was coming from the resultant line-out, but stopping it was a whole different matter. Sadly, they struggled to contain Exeter’s eight, but when the likes of McGoverne and Kate Zackary helped add to the equation, there was no stopping Irish international Moloney on the back of the well-drilled maul.
It was proving one-way traffic in terms of both possession and territory, but Harlequins were doing their best to try and restrict the Chiefs as best as possible The rising penalty count though remained a problem and on the half-hour mark, Appleby’s side crashed over for a third score. Allen - who is enjoying a sublime season so far - was again the scorer, this time finishing off after Rogers had caused issues from a quickly-taken penalty.
With half time fast approaching, Harlequins were desperate to just get back in the sheds and a chance to regroup. The Chiefs, though, had other ideas as they wrapped up the all-important bonus point through prop Rogers, who was able to barge over from another tap penalty.
McGoverne’s penalty with the last kick of the half merely added to Harlequins’ woes as they went in way adrift of their rivals.
HALF TIME: EXETER CHIEFS 27 HARLEQUINS 0
With the elements now in their favour, Harlequins hoped they could quickly find a way back into the contest. Sadly, there was cause was not helped when they lost Rosie Galligan and Amy Cokayne to yellow cards inside the first five minutes of the half.
Down to 13, it was ‘backs to the wall’ stuff for the visitors as the Chiefs looked to inflict more damage on the Londoners. To their credit, they not only held firm in defence, but they started to finally flex their own attacking muscle.
That it took until the 57th minute for them to really make any inroads into the Chiefs 22 underlined Exeter’s overall dominance. However, it took a brilliant cover tackle from Zackary to cut down Amy Kildunne as she raced down the left flank following a cross-field kick from McKenzie.
England international Kildunne was then involved in some good link-up play with Emily Scott as they looked to punish a loose clearance kick from McGoverne. Again, though, the Chiefs were able to scramble sufficiently and avert any meaningful threat to their line.
As both sides emptied their benches during the final quarter, so the game descended into a turgid, stop-start affair. Handling errors became more prominent, whilst the fizz of action that was evident earlier in the game had now gone distinctly flat.
It mattered not for the Chiefs, they were more than happy to soak up whatever Harlequins threw at them. Defensively they looked rock solid all game, although late on they did had a few half chances which, on another day, they would have preferred to finish off.
The victory, however, was all that mattered and ensured the Chiefs head into the Christmas period all smiles and ready to attack the New Year with aplomb.
Chiefs: M Doidge; C MacDonald, K Zackary, G Cantorna, E Sinclair (L Cramer 72); L McGoverne (R Wilkins 75), F Robinson (B Bradley 75); H Rogers (S Turani 61), C Moloney (E Tuttosi 53), D Menin (C Jacoby 72); N Fryday, P Leitch (capt, A Fleming 72); E Jefferies (E McMahon 55), M Allen, R Johnson.
Tries - Allen (2), Moloney, Rogers; Conversions - McGoverne (2); Penalty - McGoverne
Harlequins: E Scott; E Amory, L Tuima, R Burford (capt, E Kildunne 7), I Mayhew; B McKenzie (B Blacklock 60), E Swords (F Aucken 58); C Edwards, R Dobson (A Cokayne 35), H Duffy (S Cooper 48-57); K Leaney (L Corson 58), R Galligan; S Bonar, E Robinson (R Dobson 49), J Konkel-Roberts. Replacements (not used): H Duffy, L Heryet.
Yellow Cards: Galligan, Cokayne
Referee: N Chivers
Attendance: 1,045