Exeter’s Gareth Steenson keeps his side in second as they hold off Harlequins

Exeter had a few days before the match announced their first profit since being promoted to the Premiership and their presence in second place in the table showed that the gains in the last six years had not just been to their bank balance. They have retained a clear rugby identity despite having to go corporate, the men in the black, and it was spirit that took them through in a game in which they were outscored on tries and on the back foot for much of it.

The conditions marked November at its dark worst, a howling wind spawning a second-half downpour, but while some teams react by deeming it almost impossible to score a try, this match contained six. If none could be said to be a product of beauty, although two came after the ball had been put through multiple pairs of hands, the rain dampened the will of neither side and Harlequins left under the umbrella of two bonus points.

It should have been more given their marked superiority in the opening half when they played into the wind, but they gave away on a try on the stroke of the interval having tried to wind down the clock. They held on to the ball for three minutes on or around their own 22 when Thomas Waldrom forced a knock-on out of Mike Brown, illegally protested Quins who felt the Exeter No8 had been off his feet when making the challenge. Exeter’s narrow backline for defence suddenly fanned out and James Short was able to skip away from Nick Evans’s challenge for what turned out to be the game’s crucial score.

It gave Exeter a lead at the break that their use of the wind had barely merited and even though it lasted only two minutes of the second half when Evans’s penalty put his side ahead, Quins lost control when they changed from keeping the ball in hand to using the elements to play for position. They lost their momentum and when Gareth Steenson regained the lead for the Chiefs with a try on 55 minutes to finish off a break-out, the home side remained in front despite losing Epi Taione and Tom Johnson to the sin-bin in the final quarter.

Quins had two chances to win the match, first when Tim Swiel attempted to convert Tim Visser’s try from wide on the left with 18 minutes to go, a score which came when the wing reacted quickly to Mike Brown’s chip to the line hitting the corner flag and bouncing infield, and then with a penalty three minutes from the end when he overcompensated for the wind and hit the ball hard to the right of the posts where it stayed.

Quins deserved more overall but a team that faded so badly in the second half of last season, when they missed out not only on a position in the top four but a place in the Champions Cup as they struggled up front, showed it had substance to go with style. Their director of rugby, Conor O’Shea, reckoned the performance, after a victory at Bath and narrow defeat at Leicester, showed his side would be in it for the long haul, and the way they cleverly mixed up their game into the wind, confounding the defence by going narrow at time and wide at others, as well as establishing an early dominance up front provided a powerful argument for his belief.

It was mistakes that cost them. Charlie Walker dropped the kick-off and Steenson was presented with the first of his three penalties, and the wing in effect ended the contest for his side a minute from the end by spilling the ball in his own half and conceding a lineout. He finished smartly for his side’s third try on 30 minutes which put them 17-9 up but Quins could never get far enough ahead.

Every time they scored a try they conceded a kickable penalty, usually after messing up the restart. They were sharper than Exeter, Danny Care and Evans alert and decisive, and the latter’s departure on 56 minutes after he was dazed in a Taione tackle led Quins to lose their radar. As they faded, Steenson took charge for Exeter.

On the final weekend before the England head coach, Eddie Jones, starts work at Twickenham, Henry Slade had his moments, in particular a shimmy down the left wing when he somehow got round the prop Kyle Sinckler, who had positioned himself virtually on the right wing, and Jack Nowell showed instant acceleration on the few occasions he had the ball, but it was at forward where names were being forged.

The Exeter flanker Dave Ewers stood out in the second half, taking over from Chris Robshaw who, playing on the blindside, had been at the heart of everything that was impressive about Harlequins. Joe Marler started well, earning Quins a ninth-minute penalty try after getting on top of the replacement prop Alex Brown and Tom Johnson’s introduction after the interval gave Ewers a ball-carrying foil.

“It was crucial that we stayed in touch with penalties in the first half when Harlequins were playing well,” said the Exeter head coach, Rob Baxter. “They were very good in the first half when we were passive and timid, and while we are frustrated at parts of our performance, sometimes you look at the scoreboard and wonder how you won.”