Slade stars as Exeter crush Harlequins in Prem

The Prem.

Exeter (24) 38

Feyi-Waboso, Slade 2, Skinner, and Fisilau Cons: Slade 5 Pens: Slade 5

Exeter continued their resurgence with a thumping Prem win over Harlequins, led by England centre Henry Slade, who scored two tries and kicked 13 points.

In a 10-minute first-half spell, the Chiefs stunned Quins with three tries, with Slade being at the forefront when he set up Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s opener before being blocked by Australian debutant Len Ikitau.

Four minutes after half-time, Greg Fisilau went over in the corner for a bonus-point try, while Harvey Skinner made it 24-0 at the break by capitalizing on a Harlequins error.

Before Slade scored his second try in the final seconds, the hosts, who had almost two thirds of the country’s possession and territory, did not concede a point for the first time in almost two years thanks to a stifling defense.

Before kick-off, Exeter were dealt a blow by veteran winger Olly Woodburn, who had recovered from a knee ligament injury, when he failed a late fitness test.

In a wet and windy first quarter, both teams made errors as a result of Slade’s early penalty.

When Australia’s centre Ikitau joined Exeter’s highly regarded backline, Slade was their longest-serving player who showed his class when his 26th-minute kick-pass to the right was collected by England team-mate Feyi-Waboso for his sixth try in four games.

As a result, Slade switched from providing to scoring as a result of Quins’ failure to handle a high ball, and Ikitau reacted as quickly as he popped the ball to the England man who went in under the posts.

With the wind at their backs, Quins’ failure to deal with the high ball cost them once more, as Skinner pounced on the error and kicked past Tyrone Green before scoring the home side’s third try.

After the break, Exeter’s forwards immediately started working, opening the door for number eight Fisilau to go over in the left corner with Ikitau’s Wallabies team-mate Tom Hooper also making his debut.

After the break, Bachuki Tchumbadze, the team’s replacement quarterback, was sin-binned for a high tackle.

However, with the weather improving, Exeter’s defense made sure Quins didn’t get close to their line before the Londoners’ skipper Caden Murley went to the bin for a deliberate knock-on with 12 minutes left to sum up his side’s day.

As their disappointing start to the season wore on, Harry Browne’s replacement was sin-binned for a high hit on Tchumbadze, who further diminished them.

Ross McMillan, the forward’s coach at Exeter, told BBC Sport:

“I believed we had reacted to the frustrations of the previous week.

The guys showed that today, but I don’t believe anyone who visited Sandy Park this week anticipated receiving the full amount of annoyance.

We discussed Bristol and what we wanted from each other, and we both left feeling resentful.

So I was really pleased, and I can tell you that the group really enjoyed the response.

Jason Gilmore, the senior Harlequins coach, told BBC Sport: “

If you compare two performances in eight days, this is the consistency piece I’m talking about with our football club, and it was a reality check for us, which is probably where we’re at right now.

“Our good is very good, but we also have a bad day,” he said. That’s a challenge that everyone of us must overcome, and how we manage to iron it out is where this team keeps competing better each week. It’s definitely more about mindset than anything else, in my opinion.

We were hungry around the collision point, and we showed really good fight, according to the game last week.

“We weren’t as active in the aerial battle today,” he asks. Exeter did a fantastic job and won the game, but we hardly won any ball in the air today.

Yeandle, Burger, Tchubadze, Zambonin, Pearson, James, Chapman, and Hammersley are the replacements.

Yellow card: Tchubadze (56).

Green, Isgro, Northmore, Benson, Murley (capt), Smith, Porter, Baxter, Walker, Williams, Petti Pagadizabal, Lewies, Kenningham, Evans, Cunningham-South, and others.

Replacements: Anderson, Carr, Townsend, Delgado, Treadwell, Browne, Wenger, and Turner.

Yellow card: Murley (68), Browne (77).