I have managed to get to every game so far and that was far more physical and intense than anything we saw in the Prep Cup. Our defence was extremely good, all of the forwards put in a huge shift and there are going to be some tired bodies tonight. Symonds and Lewies provided a bit more grunt than has been shown by the other combinations and were very strong in defence.
There is going to be some real competition in the back row going forward. Evans is an out and out open side, and is very different to Lawday, Robshaw, Bothma, Chisholm and Dombrant. He won at least one turnover and has a fantastic work rate, always slowing down opposition ball. Lawday was used at the front of the line out and this functioned well today. When Dombrant came on he once again showed his skills with ball in hand. The offload for Ibitoye's second try was excellent and he produced a one handed pick up in the middle of the field which was superb. Getting the right balance is going to be tricky and with Semi to come in as well there are going to be some tough decisions to make.
Landajo set up another try from a quick tap penalty, he appears to have settled in well and I think Care will have some time on the bench when he is ready for selection. Smith's defence has come on so much, he was tenacious and having a little bit more weight as helped him. He showed a few nice touches but both sides struggled to put players into space especially between the two 10m lines. When both teams went wide they made some good ground but ultimately both sides were good in defence. Tapuai and Marchant didn't take a step back and were very solid all afternoon. We also have lots of good options in the back three. Ibitoye is a natural finisher and took his two tries extremely well. Morris has made a good start to the season and then we have Goneva, Earl (when fit) and Ismaiel in the squad, more difficult decisions to make.
Ultimately we didn't have enough possession deep in Exeter's half. A lot of the ball we had was in the middle of the park and we couldn't seem to find a way through. I see lots of people on Facebook moaning about the penalty count but there were plenty that could have gone the other way. I wasn't stood there thinking that they were brainless penalties (I've been watching Quins a long time and seen plenty of them!). Marchant and Landajo both booted one out on the full each and Smith didn't find touch with one penalty but I didn't see too many errors. Are defence of a driving maul has improved significantly.
I think we need to be really pleased with the effort and commitment shown today. Not many teams will go to Sandy Park and only concede one try. It was a game we could of won but at one stage we looked like we might come away with nothing. That would have been truly unfair and we certainly deserved the point we got. Gussy seemed pleased in his post match interview. We really need to get off to a good start at home next week if we are going to challenge for the top four.
Simmonds was awarded player of the match and did carry well.