Harlequins tear Exeter Chiefs' defence to shreds to extend their unbeaten run

Exeter Chiefs were a defensive shambles at Sandy Park on Sunday as they fell to a 36-19 defeat to Harlequins who claimed their first victory away at the Devon club in 10 years.

Chiefs new record is an unwanted one as they extended their worst ever start to a Premiership campaign to go 0 from six in the first block of league games to sit ninth in standings, just one point above Newcastle Falcons who beat them last week. There is plenty of spirit there for Chiefs, who really should have been dead and buried by half time after Harlequins sliced and diced Omar Mouneimne’s rush defence, making 12 clean breaks as 28 tackles were missed by the hosts in the first 40 minutes, but some incredible last-ditch scrambling ensured the visitors only touched down three tries through Oscar Beard, Rodrigo Isgro and Will Evans. But replies from Ross Vintcent and Will Rigg ensured it was only a five point deficit at the interval, 19-14.

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Chiefs almost scored early in the second half but Paul Brown-Bampoe was narrowly driven into touch by Tyrone Green in a key moment in the game. Ben Hammersley scored with practically his first touch of the game after replacing Henry Slade; who had been released by England to make his first appearance of the season having recovered from shoulder surgery.

But a second converted try from player of the match Will Evans and then penalty from Jarrod Evans put distance between the sides, and in the dying embers of the match Cadan Murley stuck the knife in with Harlequins’ fifth try of the game.

Post-match, Chiefs director of rugby said: "The truth is we look like we are stuck in the headlights. When Quins had the ball we almost couldn’t get on the move and then we scrambled like mad and fought like mad. That is the frustrating thing.

“We have got a lot of hard work to do. I have just got to keep working extremely hard to bring us through this situation as positively as we can. For some of these lads this could end up being a positive experience for them, for some of them it could be an awful one.

“I have got to try and make sure we get through it as quickly as possible.”

Quins dominated early possession and territory, with Isgro making a threatening raid into the Chiefs’ 22, and Slade’s early work was heavily in a defensive capacity. Exeter remained firmly on the back foot, and their defence was unlocked after 14 minutes following a strong run by flanker Will Evans, before fly-half Evans sent Beard over for a well-worked try.

The Chiefs needed a response, and they found it just three minutes later as some impressive approach work posed Quins questions for the first time, as Vintcent touched down after getting an inspired offload for Olly Woodburn, with Slade converting.

Back came Quins, though, as they exploited space brilliantly and Isgro ran in from 30 metres, smashing through Woodburn’s challenge with the winger over committed having raced across to try and pull off another defensive miracle. Evans’ conversion made it 12-7.

Exeter were at sixes and sevens at times in having any idea how to stop Quins’ free-flowing approach despite the visitors being stripped of their England stars, and Will Evans added try number three early in the second quarter before Evans’ conversion opened up a 12-point lead.

Quins could have been out of sight, such was the ease with which they were breaking tackles and finding space, but Exeter stayed in the fight as Rigg finished strongly, throwing a dummy and backing his pace to score. Slade converted.

It sparked Chiefs’ best spell of the half, although they were unable to make further inroads and Quins took a 19-14 lead into the interval.

Exeter wing Paul Brown-Bampoe went close to a try inside two minutes of the restart, being tackled into touch at the corner flag, then Quins had a score disallowed from full-back Tyrone Green following a forward pass.

They did not have to wait long to secure a bonus point, though, as Will Evans went over for his second try, and Evans’ conversion restored a 12-point gap.

Slade then left the action, and his replacement Hammersley had an immediate impact, scoring Chiefs’ third try and keeping themselves in contention approaching the final quarter.

An Evans penalty edged Quins closer to the finishing line, and Exeter could find no further response as Murley’s late score down the blindside following a break from Danny Care left Chiefs to reflect on a miserable run of results before a five-week break from Premiership action.

Exeter Chiefs: 15. Josh Hodge, 14. Olly Woodburn, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Will Rigg, 11. Paul Brown-Bampoe, 10. Will Haydon-Wood, 9. Will Becconsall; 1. Scott Sio (c), 2. Dan Frost, 3. Ehren Painter, 4. Franco Molina, 5. Richard Capstick, 6. Ross Vintcent, 7. Jacques Vermeulen, 8. Greg Fisilau

Replacements : 16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18. Marcus Street, 19. Rusi Tuima, 20. Ethan Roots, 21. Stu Townsend, 22. Harvey Skinner, 23. Ben Hammersley

Harlequins: 15. Tyrone Green, 14. Rodrigo Isgro, 13. Oscar Beard, 12. Lennox Anyanwu, 11. Cadan Murley, 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Will Porter; 1. Jordan Els, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Titi Lamositele, 4. Irne Herbst, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. Will Evans, 8. James Chisholm

Replacements : 16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Wyn Jones, 18. Simon Kerrod, 19. Joe Launchbury, 20. Tom Lawday, 21. Danny Care, 22. Jamie Benson, 23. Nick David

Referee: Adam Leal

Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce and Jamie Leahy

TMO: Tom Foley

Attendance: 12,054