Quins battle past Chiefs for first victory
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: Alex Dombrandt of Harlequins celebrates winning a penalty in the last minute as Harvey Skinner of Exeter Chiefs looks on during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Harlequins and Exeter Chiefs at The Stoop on October 22, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
By EDDIE MCATEER
Harlequins… 22pts
Tries: Kenningham 10, Lynagh 17, Joseph 35
Conversions: Evans 11, 18
Penalties: Edwards 80
Tries: Painter 4, Frost 70
Conversions: Slade 5, 71
Harlequins welcomed their fans to their first Premiership home game of the season with a hard-fought win against Exeter Chiefs.
The home side went into the game off the back of a last minute defeat to Gloucester in their opening Premiership game, whereas Exeter had thrashed Saracens 65-10.
Having gone behind early in the game, Harlequins recovered well and held out for an impressive victory.
Chiefs opened the scoring with just four minutes on the clock after the impressive Josh Hodge made a fantastic break that led to a penalty.
Chiefs opted to kick to the corner and from the lineout worked it wide for Ehren Painter to bundle over from close range and Henry Slade added the extras.
Harlequins responded soon after thanks to some slick hands in the backs which gave Jack Kenningham a simple run to the line that Jarrod Evans converted to even the scores.
Tommy Wyatt’s footwork nearly saw Chiefs hit back but his offload was knocked on by Tom Hendrickson with the line beckoning.
Quins took the lead after 17 minutes thanks to a sumptuous inside ball from Evans that put Louis Lynagh in a bit of space.
Lynagh’s speed and a big hand-off propelled him under the posts to give Evans a straightforward conversion to go seven points clear.
Chiefs suffered a blow after half an hour when Hodge, who scored a hat-trick against Saracens last week, fell awkwardly and was replaced by Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Things got worse for Chiefs five minutes later as a relentless Quins attack saw Will Joseph go over on the wing from five metres out.
Evans missed for the first time of the day but the home side held out for the rest of the half to go into the dressing room with a 12 point cushion.
The second half was more attritional than the first, with neither team able to take control of the half and both sides coughing up possession at times.
Chiefs had multiple chances to put themselves back into contention, but on multiple occasions spilt the ball when in promising positions.
Defence was the focus for Quins in the second half, with Exeter throwing themselves into the contest in search of a winner.
Chiefs got one back through Dan Frost, who combined footwork and power to score a much-needed try.
Slade converted to cut the deficit to just five points with nine minutes remaining and set up a tense finale fo
The away side looked to have a golden opportunity to win the game when Niall Armstrong scythed through the Quins defence, but another wayward offload ended that hope and it looked as if they would have to settle for a losing bonus point.
However, with seconds left on the clock a pumped-up Alex Dombrandt brilliantly won his side a penalty inside the Exeter half.
Will Edwards stepped up to slot the kick and deny Exeter even a bonus point, meaning Quins moved up to sixth, behind their opponents on points difference.
Having missed out on England’s World Cup squad, Dombrandt’s performance was an excellent response but does not want to let that distract him.
He said: “It was a tough couple of weeks, I won’t lie to you, but Quins were really good at welcoming me back.
“I’m just fully focused on Quins and being the captain and trying to lead the boys and really drive this team forward to the potential that I know we can do.”
Exeter Chiefs’ Director of Rugby Rob Baxter rued his side’s missed opportunities that ultimately could have completely changed the result.
He said: “That was the tale of the game.
“Almost right to the death we had a try-scoring opportunity and we maybe pushed an offload that was not quite on and then we also lose the losing bonus point.”
Teams
HARLEQUINS: David, Green, Joseph, Northmore (Edwards 68), Lynagh (Beard 62), Evans, Porter (Green 62), Baxter (Els 69), Riley (Jibulu 54), Collier (Kerrod 54), Launchbury, Hammond (Lamb 62), Kenningham, Evans (Chisholm 77), Dombrandt.
EXETER CHIEFS: Hodge (Feyi-Waboso 30), Hammersley (Haydon-Wood 72), Slade, Hendrickson, Wyatt, Skinner, Cairns (Armstrong 57), Sio (Frost 51), Yeandle (Keast 51), Painter (Iosefa-Scott 51), Tuima (Davis 59), Pearson, Roots, Vermeulen (Vintcent 63), Fisilau.
REFEREE: Adam Leal
Star man: Alex Dombrandt – Harlequins
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