Ruthless Exeter send out warning to play-off rivals
attached to a home semi-final you are losing the battle already aren’t you?” Baxter said. “For us it’s about turning up each week and playing well whether we are home or away. We are on a good run now without losing and why can’t that continue?
“Half those games have been away from home and it’s not been a big issue for us. I’m not going to put so much pressure on the players that they think each week they have to go out on the field and get a five-point win or else everything is wrong. Any win today would have been a great result for us. Five points is fantastic and it really helps us for the home semi-final but it’s not the be all and end all.
“It’s good because you want to play in front of your own supporters. Statistically it gives you a better chance of winning, financially it’s great and, in some ways, that’s probably one of the most important things.”
Baxter admitted there was still room for improvement and Exeter did need some luck to break Harlequins’ resistance. The ball bounced favourably three times but Exeter could argue that they made their own luck having survived a secondhalf pounding from the Harlequins pack.
Australian full-back Lachie Turner, who stepped in when Phil Dollman failed a fitness test on a hamstring injury, crossed twice, the first after James Short had gathered a grubber kick from Danny Care, the second after Harlequins dropped the ball when they were chasing the game.
In between, a chip from scrumhalf Jack Maunder bounced kindly for Henry Slade who followed up his own kick ahead to score the bonus-point try.
Defeat was hard on Harlequins and it effectively put paid to any lingering hopes they might have had of joining Exeter in the play-offs, although they are still very much in contention for qualification for the European Champions Cup for the first time in three years.
They started each half brightly with Mat Luamanu ploughing over after three minutes and Nick Evans galloping away for an interception try early in the second. But they finished the match empty-handed despite a late try from Scotland wing Tim Visser.
“The quality of the performance was very high. I thought the intensity was tremendous,” said Harlequins director of rugby John Kingston.
“Exeter are a very good side. Their confidence levels are clearly really high. They took a complete buffeting for a lot of the game and managed to stay in it, which they deserve full credit for. But to come away with nothing is a bit hard to take.”