The playoff equation won’t be fully sorted out until next weekend, but Exeter are embarking on a furious surge to reach the top four. The Chiefs had to win here with a bonus point and send Quins home with as little as possible, and a stormy second-half performance in sunny Devon allowed them to extend their semi-final hopes until the final round.
Breathless joyfull is becoming the commercial value of the Premiership, and here is another living example. Exeter’s back row was surprisingly powerful again, with Ethan Roots and Greg Fisilau both excellent, and the Chiefs – who won the second half 37-5- also had the exciting dynamic Immanuel Feyi–Waboso, who added two more tries and several major line breaks to his increasingly flashy portfolio.
There were also a number of tries for fly-half Harvey Skinner against a Harlequins team who were forced to use Marcus Smith as a full-back for almost an hour and who were obviously still recovering from their valiant defeat in the Champions Cup semi-final last Sunday in Toulouse. The big question has always been how much collective energy they had left and they ended up emptying themselves.
Quins head coach Danny Wilson was less than delighted, hinting that his team had “collapsed defensively” after the Break, but it was also the new Exeter model at its best. Last weekend’s calculations were adjusted slightly by a Louis Lynagh try, but the Chiefs should now reach the last four if they smack Leicester with a bonus point and Sale lose to Saracens.
Exeter Director of Rugby Rob Baxter openly admits he didn’t expect his young team to be a challenger this season, but they now have a real swing, despite a painful knee health issue to their veteran hooker Jack Yeandle. Quins, meanwhile, must now smack Bristol and pray that the results make their way elsewhere.
That scenario seemed a long way off, as Smith threw a lovely dummy in the first two minutes and scored a sparkling 35-metre solo attempt. This set the tone for a match full of positive intentions on a glorious afternoon. Exeter also looked confident, ball in hand, without taking their chances first, before another series of targeted actions ended with a Henry Slade strike into the left corner.
However, Quins’ ability to strike from anywhere gave the hosts few opportunities to relax, and soon a decent pass from Jarrod Evans put Tyrone Green through for his team’s second attempt. Evans was in action for the health issue Cadan Murley, which led to a reshuffle that saw Smith switch to his occasional England role as a full-back. This is not always the ideal place for his unique talents, and an unfortunate trip to the field only led to him being tied up and the ball fell to Feyi-Waboso, who happily accepted the unexpected gift.