With the West Country boys from Bath strutting their stuff across the road the week before, it was the turn of Exeter’s youngsters to give a reminder that George Ford and Jonathan Joseph are not the only acts in town. Henry Slade, in particular, shone as Chiefs dispatched Harlequins on their own patch. He landed eight out of nine shots at goal and scored a try for a 27-point haul. And the assist for his try came from Jack Nowell, playing at outside centre here but likely to feature for England on the wing in Dublin on Sunday.
Rob Baxter, Exeter’s head coach, was an understandably happy man, his charges having surely knocked one challenger out of contention as they strive to make their first appearance in the play-offs. But, good mood or not, he considers it a matter of time before Slade appears in an England shirt. “Sladey’s a difficult one,” he said, “because he’s playing against some very good players in the England set-up. But I think, sooner or later, if a player’s going to have it all, he looks the guy. He kicked very maturely today, at the posts and for position. Everyone knows he’s a strong defender and today he showed real attacking quality. He glided in for that try and looked untouchable.”
Nowell is a very different type of player, bristling with pace and muscle. He missed Marland Yarde in the build-up to Harlequins’ early try, when the home side looked as if they might run away with things, but he played a key role in Slade’s, the decisive score of the match. Baxter reserved special praise, though, for Dave Ewers, another of Exeter’s England hopefuls, whom he described as “a man mountain”. Many of Harlequins’ attacks foundered on his mighty defence.
It was another desperate afternoon for the home team, who are now struggling to secure a place in Europe, let alone the play-offs. They ran Exeter off their feet in the first 20 minutes, forcing them into two yellow cards and opening up an 8-0 lead. But the mistakes that have hounded them this season were soon to follow. “This is not where we want to be as a club,” said Conor O’Shea, their director of rugby. “But when you’re searching like we are for something, sometimes you push that little bit too hard. You need the energy to come to you. You couldn’t deny we started well. And how we were losing at half-time kind of sums up where we are. You could see right to the bitter end there was a team that was playing and trying, which is why I’ll always be proud of them.”
Harlequins Monye (Lindsay-Hague, 55); Yarde, Hopper, Casson (Botica, 44), Walker; Evans, Care (Dickson, 70); Lambert, Ward, Sinckler, Matthews (Talei, 51), Robson, Clifford, Wallace (Trayfoot, 70), Easter (capt).
Tries Evans, Hopper Con Evans Pens Evans 3.
Exeter Dollman (McGuigan, 48); Whitten, Nowell, Hill, Jess; Slade, Chudley (Lewis, 70); Moon (Rimmer, 41), Cowan-Dickie (Yeandle, 57), Francis (Brown, 70), Mumm (capt), Welch (Lees, 65), Ewers, White (Johnson, 70), Waldrom.
Tries White, Slade Cons Slade 2 Pens Slade 6. Sin-bin Whitten, Dollman, Waldrom.
Referee M Carley (RFU). Att 14,800.
