Exeter vs Harlequins match report: Gareth Steenson points way for defiant Chiefs

Those who believe Chris Robshaw’s best chance of retaining his place in England’s back row under the Eddie Jones regime in 2016 is to revert to the blindside flanker role in which he first made his name had the chance to see him as an orthodox No 6 here, partly due to his club being without five injured loose forwards. And a damned fine job Robshaw made of it as Harlequins scored four tries and only narrowly failed to inflict on Exeter a first home defeat since early January.

An entertaining match that was shaped but not ruined by some filthy weather ended with Exeter consolidating second place in the Premiership, with 21 points amassed by their often underrated fly-half, Gareth Steenson.

The uncapped Exeter blindside Dave Ewers sought out Robshaw – the England captain of the last four years but now thought to be competing for his place like any other player – for some physical head to heads, while Henry Slade’s attacking movement alongside Steenson reinforced his position as the English game’s most complete inside-centre, even though he wore No 13 on his back.

Harlequins fielded their hooker Dave Ward as an emergency openside, and they had three tries in the opening 27 minutes playing into a stiff wind, although the great sheets of rain that the locals said had swept up the Exe and down the Axe did not arrive until after the interval. There was a penalty try while Exeter had their tighthead prop Moray Low in the blood bin, a smart score by Nick Evans running onto Danny Care’s excellent grubber, and a neat finish by wing Charlie Walker with a shift of the feet to beat James Short.

Meanwhile Steenson was accumulating four penalty goals for Exeter and, with three-and-a-half minutes to go to the interval, Quins attempted to see time out with pick-and-go rucks in a small area of their own half. They might have made it if Mike Brown hadn’t spilled the ball out of a ruck which Quins claimed had been messed up illegally by Exeter’s Thomas Waldrom. A quick transference via Don Armand, Steenson and Slade gave Short a try at the left corner, and Steenson’s conversion had Exeter 19-17 up.

Harlequins edged ahead again with an Evans penalty before Slade was involved in a move that revolved around Elvis Taione battering through Evans – who was forced off in groggy pain – and finished with Steenson taking a pass brilliantly off the floor to score a try he converted himself.

But Quins never relented. Taione went to the bin with 61 minutes gone for a diving tackle that flipped Mark Lambert over and while the hooker was off there were uncontested scrums, and a truly wacky try for Harlequins, as Brown’s overhit grubber through the Exeter defence bounced off the corner flag into the hands of his wing Tim Visser, utterly foxing the covering Short.

In terrible kicking conditions, Evans’s replacement Tim Swiel was unable to land the conversion, but he had another shot from a penalty for a second Exeter yellow card with five minutes remaining, as Tom Johnson tackled Robshaw round the side of a maul. Unfortunately for the substitute, the wind blew the ball over and when he teed it up again, the kick lurched wide from 35 metres.

“Robshaw was absolutely outstanding and I hope people take note before writing him off,” said Conor O’Shea, Harlequins’ director of rugby, while his Exeter counterpart Rob Baxter was pleased his team hadn’t buckled after Visser’s lucky score. “Sometimes you win games and wonder how you’ve done it,” said Baxter.

Exeter: P Dollman; J Nowell, H Slade, I Whitten, J Short; G Steenson, W Chudley (D Lewis, 78); A Hepburn (B Moon, 50), J Yeandle (capt, E Taione, 15), M Low (A Brown, 4-8, 51), M Lees, D Welch (G Parling, 64), D Ewers, D Armand (T Johnson, 41), T Waldrom.

Harlequins: M Brown; C Walker, G Lowe, H Sloan (M Hopper, 49), T Visser; N Evans (T Swiel, 57), D Care (capt); J Marler (M Lambert, 60), R Buchanan, K Sinckler (W Collier, 49), J Horwill, S Twomey (C Matthews, 54), C Robshaw, D Ward, N Easter.

Referee: M Carley (Kent).