Jarrod Evans and Luke Northmore guide Harlequins to win over Exeter
Harlequins picked up their first league win of the Gallagher Premiership season with a hard-fought 22-14 victory over Exeter at the Stoop.
There was little between the sides but the hosts had slightly more attacking flair than their opponents as Jarrod Evans and Luke Northmore possessed more ideas in how to break stubborn defences.
This resulted in three tries for Quins through Jack Kenningham, Will Joseph and Louis Lynagh with Evans kicking two conversions. Will Edwards added a penalty.
Exeter responded with tries from front-rowers Ehren Painter and Dan Frost, both of which Henry Slade converted.
A superb 50-metre run from full-back Josh Hodge gave Exeter an early attacking platform and they took advantage of it when Painter forced his way over.
Within four minutes, Quins were level when well-timed passing gave Kenningham an easy run-in as both sides sought to exploit the excellent playing conditions.
A third try looked inevitable and it soon came to give the hosts the lead for the first time. Thirty metres out, an inside pass from Evans gave Lynagh the chance to skip past two defenders and score.
Evans converted and his side had a 14-7 lead at the end of an enterprising first quarter before Exeter suffered a huge blow when they lost Hodge with arm injury after he had fallen awkwardly in fielding a high ball.
Chiefs soon received another setback when Quins scored their third try. A strong burst from Northmore put the defence on the back foot before the ball was recycled for Joseph to stroll over in the corner.
Evans missed the conversion but Quins deservedly held a 19-7 interval advantage.
Chiefs began the second half strongly to pressurise the home defence but they still continued to lose possession at crucial times. Inaccurate passing at the death and frequent turnovers greatly hampered their try-scoring opportunities.
As a result a competitive third quarter finished scoreless, mainly due to Exeter replacement Immanuel Feyi-Waboso showing exceptional speed to deprive Tyrone Green of a touchdown.
The home side suffered an injury blow when the impressive Northmore was helped off the field with a leg injury to be replaced by Edwards.
Exeter immediately capitalised with a try from Frost from a driving line-out which Slade converted to set up a grandstand finish.
There were still nine minutes left on the clock but Exeter could get no closer as the hosts regrouped to keep their opponents at bay in the final stages with a last-minute penalty from Edwards depriving Chiefs of a merited bonus point.
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
35 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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