Schmid double helps Harlequins edge Exeter 31-28

Harlequins beat Exeter Chiefs 31-28 at Sandy Park on Saturday, securing consecutive league victories for the first time this season. According to BBC Sport's match report, Lucas Schmid scored twice as the visitors recovered from a second-half deficit.

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Cadan Murley and Nick David supplied Harlequins' opening tries before Exeter responded through Harry Wilson and Nika Abuladze. The teams reached half-time level at 14-14, with the Chiefs having played against 14 men after Bryn Bradley received a yellow card.

Will Butt then put Exeter ahead, but Schmid's two tries swung the contest back towards Harlequins. Jack Kenningham added another for the visitors before Olly Woodburn's late score brought the Chiefs within three points and kept the outcome in doubt.

Exeter's final opportunity ended when they lost possession at a lineout with time expired, allowing Harlequins to clear into touch. The visitors finished with five tries to Exeter's four, winning despite Henry Slade converting every Chiefs try.

The result follows a difficult opening to Harlequins' league campaign. Rugbyrama's results record lists a 33-17 defeat by Bath, a 48-0 loss at Gloucester and a 28-24 reverse against Sale in their first three rounds. Those results left Quins seeking their first league win when they faced Saracens in their fourth fixture.

That breakthrough arrived with a 33-15 victory over Saracens, following a 57-19 Challenge Cup win against Vannes, according to Rugbyrama's record. The two results had already ended the sequence of defeats before the trip to Devon. Harlequins have now followed those home successes with an away victory, making it three wins in succession across the two competitions.

For Exeter, the defeat followed losses to Toulouse and Bristol. The recent-results record published by It's Rugby shows a 43-40 European defeat against Toulouse and a 20-7 league loss to Bristol before this fixture. Their earlier league win had come against Newcastle, 34-28. Saturday's narrow margin therefore added another loss to a run that had already included a three-point defeat in Europe.