Quins and Bath are level on 14 Premiership wins, meaning a home victory on Saturday will suffice as long as Bath do not gain both losers’ and tryscoring bonus points.
“Bath are an outstanding side, so I wouldn’t say we have an edge,” said O’Shea. “But since round five only two sides – Northampton and Saracens – have won more games than we have and this has given the side steel.
“I know what I want to happen now but the development of this group has been fast-tracked no matter what that is.”
To make O’Shea’s point, yesterday Quins lost England full-back Mike Brown with a leg injury before kick-off. Though Brown exerts a critical influence on their attacking game they managed without him with senior players such as Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter dragging their fellows to the finish.
In the process they condemned Exeter to their ninth defeat in 11 Premiership fixtures since they stood fifth, only a point off the semi-final places, at Christmas. This dire run of results has dropped them to ninth, their lowest since promotion in 2010.
On the other hand, this was a significant riposte to their own collapse when Sale amassed a half-century here a fortnight ago – a relief to their esteemed coach Rob Baxter as well as welcome evidence that the trouncing was an aberration.
“I have to be careful I don’t get too frustrated when we put in such a fully-committed performance,” said Baxter. “Harlequins are a fine side fighting for a top-four place and we nearly beat them. Maybe we should have.
“As long as they are learning from it, then next season there’s got to be some improvement from having had the experience. I’m actually very happy with the way both the team and club are going. But at the same time we do have to perform in the here and now.”
Article source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/rugby-league-gentle-brushes-krs-spin-121826904.html
Exeter 29 - Harlequins 30: Quins set for Bath showdown
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