England veteran stars as Exeter Chiefs emphaticallly nil Harlequins

Exeter centre Henry Slade provided a timely reminder of his England credentials with a virtuoso performance in a thumping 38-0 win over Harlequins at a windswept Sandy Park.

With the autumn internationals just around the corner, Slade racked up 23 points with two tries, a penalty and five conversions.

He also created a try for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, with Harvey Skinner and Greg Fisilau also crossing in a one-sided Gallagher Prem clash.

Exeter lost two players ahead of kick-off, with prop Scott Sio and wing Paul Bampoe-Brown withdrawing through injury, but they were able to hand debuts to their two Australia internationals, flanker Tom Hooper and centre Len Ikitau.

Slade kicked Exeter into a fourth-minute lead with a simple penalty before first Marcus Smith’s restart went straight into touch and then the outside half completely lost his footing when taking a penalty to illustrate just how tricky the conditions were.

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They were clearly in the Chiefs’ favour in the first half, but both sides struggled to get to grips with them, with Slade’s penalty the only score of a disjointed and forgettable first quarter.

Exeter then suffered a blow when prop Will Goodrick-Clarke departed with an arm injury to be replaced by Ethan Burger, but they overcame the setback to score an excellent try.

A superbly-judged cross-field kick from Slade was collected with aplomb by Feyi-Waboso, who powered past Tyrone Green to score his sixth try of the season.

Within 90 seconds Exeter scored another as their opponents failed to deal with an up-and-under which went loose. The home side seized possession and quick transfers sent Slade on a 30-metre dash to the line.

Quins’ woes continued when number eight Chandler Cunningham-South was forced off with a leg injury before they then made a mess of fielding another up-and-under to allow Skinner to win a kick and chase to touch down.

Slade added his third conversion and Exeter had a 24-0 interval lead.

Within four minutes of the restart the hosts secured their bonus-point try when Fisilau crashed over to reward a period of sustained pressure.

With 25 minutes remaining Exeter replacement Bachuki Tchumbadze was yellow carded for a high challenge on Jack Kenningham, but it made no difference as Quins never looked like taking advantage of the prop’s absence.

Tchumbadze returned to be replaced in the sin-bin by Quins captain Cadan Murley for a deliberate knock-on, with Harry Browne soon following him for a high challenge.

Up against 13 men, Exeter took full advantage, with Slade scoring his second try to complete a miserable afternoon for the Londoners.