Chiefs crush Quins

Rob Baxter’s calls for Exeter Chiefs to re-establish their Sandy Park fortress were well and truly answered as his side swot aside the attentions of visiting Harlequins.

Having only won two of their last nine league games on their own turf and just seven out of 17 matches in all competitions in the last 12 months, the Chiefs could not have picked a better time to rediscover the winning formula.

From start to finish, Baxter’s braves had too much for their rivals.

Thomas Waldrom, Jack Yeandle and Henry Slade all crossed for tries, whilst the boots of Slade and Gareth Steenson did the rest of the damage.

Harlequins played their part in an entertaining contest, claiming a converted try through Asaeli Tikoirotuma and two penalties from Ben Botica. However, it was never enough to dampen the impressive Devonians.

Fresh from victory on the road at Gloucester last time out, Baxter resisted making changes to his pack for the visit of the Londoners. However, he altered his back division with Phil Dollman and Jack Nowell included for their first starts of the season in place of Chrysander Botha and Ian Whitten.

On the bench, Don Armand and Tom James also returned to the fray to add some sizeable bulk in reserve.

Harlequins – who last season completed the double over their Devon hosts – were virtually at full-strength and came armed with all of their England big guns, including skipper Joe Marler, Chris Robshaw, Danny Care and Mike Brown.

A notable absentee for Quins’, though, was prolific goal kicker Nick Evans, who is still sidelined with an injury. With the Kiwi missing, it was left to compatriot Botica to pull the attacking strings from the role of No.10.

And it didn’t take Botica long to announce his arrival on the scene, firing Conor O’Shea’s side in front on two minutes with a penalty after Exeter No.8 Waldrom had strayed offside in midfield.

The lead proved short-lived as the Chiefs, spurred on by another vociferous crowd, responded with a penalty of their own as Slade thundered over a sublime penalty following a huge shove from the Exeter eight at scrum-time.

The equally deadly Steenson then got in on the act as he added a second penalty, given after Harlequins had strayed offside following a quality counter-attack led by Messrs Hill and Jess.

Exeter were dominating proceedings across the board, so it came as no surprise when they claimed the game’s opening two on 23 minutes.

Having lost their own line-out just on the Quins’ 22, Botica’s attempted clearance out of defence was charged down by Mitch Lees and it was England international Waldrom who was on hand to pounce.

Still with work to do, the former Leicester Tiger hacked forward before swallowing up the ball and dotting down in the corner. He celebrated with his trademark ‘Toot Toot’ to the sky, whilst the Sandy Park tribe erupted yet further as Steenson obliged with the additional extras to give his side a 10-point cushion.

Harlequins needed a response of sorts and although Botica saw a second penalty chance cannon back off the post, he made no mistake minutes later when he drilled an effort from wide on the left flank through the sticks after Ben Moon had been adjudged to have dropped a scrum.

The remainder of the first period, however, belonged to the Chiefs as they extended their lead yet further as Slade added another booming penalty on 37 minutes, before Steenson did likewise with the final kick of the half after some determined defence from the home side.

Half time: Exeter Chiefs 19 Harlequins 6