Match preview | Exeter v Harlequins

Harlequins travel to Exeter for their round 17 match!

Harlequins currently occupies the 5th position on the log with Exeter 7th.

Harlequins have won four of their last six Premiership matches against Exeter Chiefs (L2) including each of their last two, however, they have never won three consecutive league games against the Chiefs.

It is just over ten years since Harlequins last won a Premiership match against Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park (30-29 in May 2014), with the Quins subsequentially having lost nine in a row there – however, each of Exeter’s last five home wins against Harlequins have come by single-digit margins, including two by a single point.

Exeter have a 61% win rate against Harlequins in the Premiership, only Saracens and Leicester (both 69%) have a better win rate against Quins in the league.

Strengths

Exeter Chiefs have the highest dominant carry (47%) and gainline success (62%) rates of any side in this season’s Premiership.

Harlequins have both won more (6.0) and conceded fewer (12.4) turnovers per game than any other team in the Premiership this season.

Harlequins have conceded fewer penalties than any other team in this season’s Premiership (8.4), however, they have received the joint-most yellow cards of any side (13, also Newcastle Falcons), while Exeter Chiefs have received the joint-fewest (7, also Bath Rugby).

Harlequins are one of just two teams with an average attacking ruck speed of under four seconds in the Premiership this season (3.98s), while Exeter Chiefs have slowed down their opponents’ rucks to a greater extent than any other team this term (4.88s).

Weaknesses

Harlequins have the lowest dominant carry rate of any team in the Premiership this season (36%), while only Gloucester Rugby (52%) have a lower gainline success rate than Quins in the league this term (53%).

Exeter Chiefs (81.8%) and Harlequins (82.1%) have the lowest tackle success rates of any sides in this season’s Premiership.

Exeter Chiefs are the only team to have won fewer than four turnovers per game in the Premiership this season (3.6).

Key Players

Harlequins’ Tyrone Green has gained more metres than any other player in this season’s Premiership (1213), while Exeter Chiefs’ Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has gained more metres per carry than any other player in the league this term (9.7, min.10 carries).

Among the 265 players to have faced 20+ tackles in the Premiership this season, Harlequins’ Marcus Smith (62%) and Exeter Chiefs’ Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (52%) are two of just five players to have evaded at least half of the tackle attempts they’ve faced – Feyi-Waboso also has the league’s highest dominant carry (81%) and gainline success (90%) rates (both min.20 carries).

Harlequins’ Will Evans is the only player to have completed 200+ tackles in the Premiership this season (215) and ranks first for turnovers won (19) and both attacking (341) and defensive (123) ruck hits in the league this term