Slade gives Exeter's new faces an inspirational welcome

The stage play recounting Exeter's glorious rise to becoming Prem and Champions Cup winners just finished down the road, and here was a dominant Chiefs performance to evoke those halcyon days. If Rob Baxter's team continue to improve on this dismantling of Harlequins the show's script may even require an update.

- Luke McLaughlin

The hosts welcomed two Australia internationals, Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper, into the fold for their debuts while the familiar face of Henry Slade contributed 23 points in a consummate individual performance.

The thick cloud and driving rain that settled over Devon in the morning made the sun a distant memory: perhaps not what those two Wallabies hoped for on debut. Marcus Smith’s boot had engineered a much-needed first Prem win of the season for Quins against Saracens last weekend, but his opening contributions were to kick a restart out on the full after Slade’s opening penalty for Exeter, then to slip on the sodden turf when attempting to kick a penalty from hand. Home fans were suitably amused at the flashy fly-half’s lack of accuracy.

“He was a little bit off today, wasn’t he?” the Harlequins senior coach Jason Gilmore said of Smith. “From the first kickoff, he didn’t strike that ball great. And how he played last week to this week - it’s opposite ends of the spectrum that he’ll be disappointed with.”