Another match meant another horrible defeat for Quins. At home they may have been, with the sun on their backs as they have always liked it, but they could not contain a rampant Exeter who show no signs of faltering in defence of their title. The Chiefs gave run-outs to more of their squad, the way they change players in and out as indicative of their quality as the six tries here and, indeed, as the eight points by which they top the table.
Quins had their best game of the end of this wretched season, only seven points behind for most of the second half, but they shipped 17 in the last 10 minutes or so to finish the season in 10th, their worst performance since the year they were relegated in 2005. Inspired by Joe Simmonds, Exeter scored four unanswered tries in the first half alone, then finished with two more as Quins unravelled once again. It was no way to mark the departure of John Kingston, rugby’s answer to Arsène Wenger.
“I’m glad it’s out the way,” he said of his final day in charge. “I haven’t got myself emotional – and I do do emotional. The future is positive. I believe the squad we’ve assembled is the strongest I’ve seen in 17 years at the club. We had 20 players missing again today. We’ve had a nightmare with it. We have a very strong squad but we’ve not seen it on the pitch this year.”
Well-wishers lined the perimeter of the Stoop as Kingston embarked on a farewell lap of honour but this farewell has been long and painful, heavy defeat after heavy defeat since his exit was announced. There is no doubt this was the least debilitating of those recent losses, a bright start hinting at Quins form at last, but in the end only Northampton’s last-minute penalty denied Worcester the bonus point that would have sent Quins into 11th place.
They looked a long way from such ignominy at the start, Marcus Smith scoring the game’s first try in brilliant fashion after nearly four minutes of almost unbroken possession. All it did, though, was prompt Exeter – and Simmonds in particular – to take over.
By half-time Exeter’s young English fly-half had outshone Harlequins’, scoring Exeter’s fourth and converting and/or creating the other three. Dave Ewers drove over in uncomplicated fashion for Exeter’s first, before Simmonds’ clean break and glorious pass on the run to Phil Dollman paved the way for another Ewers rumble. Dave Dennis was on hand to take the latter’s inside pass for try number two.
Exeter’s captain claimed number three, too, this one sparked by a Simmonds half-break that showcased a certain amount of power to take Exeter to within yards of Quins’ line, where the forwards took over. And then Simmonds himself picked a superb line off Olly Woodburn to claim Exeter’s bonus point five minutes before the break, after Santiago Cordero had caused havoc down the line and Exeter’s support runners had combined sweetly.
There was time, though, for Quins to reply. Mike Brown looked back on form generally but in particular when he picked a deadly line himself off Mat Luamanu to pull Quins back to 24-17 on the stroke of half-time.
The wonder is that the third quarter passed without score. Exeter replaced Simmonds with none other than the stalwart Gareth Steenson, who set the scoreboard moving again with a penalty 10 minutes from time and Exeter duly tightened their grip with two further tries, both classic Exeter, their close-quarter work round the fringes unanswerable.
Suddenly Quins were looking at another ugly scoreline. Exeter, on the other hand, look as if they will be back in this neck of the woods at the end of the month.
Sale hopes of a Champions Cup place ended by George Ford’s salvo