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Harlequins claimed the opening J.P. Morgan Asset Management Sevens Series event of the year at The Rec on Friday night whilst hosts Bath also qualified for the tournament finals evening at the Stoop on August 5th.

Quins opened their account with a 24-5 victory over Bath and followed it up with 36-0 victory against Exeter that was enough to book their place at the Twickenham Stoop final on August 5 due to results going their way in other games before the final. They completed the evening with a hard-fought 26-12 win over rivals London Irish.

Bath bounced back from their opening defeat to see off London Irish 26-22 and thanks to Quins' crushing victory over the Chiefs, they could still afford to lose their last game to Exeter 21-17 and still progress as the runner-up.

Quins conceded just three scores while they racked up 15 tries with Ross Chisholm grabbing a hat-trick against Exeter and the outstanding Charlie Walker getting two against rivals London Irish. There were several impressive performers in the Quins ranks including sevens specialist Ollie Lindsay-Hague, Argentinean fly-half Ben Urdapilleta, young speedster Charlie Walker and Chisholm - who was awarded the official man-of-the-tournament award.

Tom Heathcote's double helped secure Bath's passage by their narrowest of margins as they were roared on by the majority of the 4,020 crowd inside The Rec. That spelt the end of both Irish and Exeter's tournament despite the best efforts of the Exiles' 17-year-old livewire Anthony Watson and the Chiefs' Jack Arnott who scored a number of tries throughout the evening.

Bath, who did not win a game in last years series, now find themselves in with a chance of the overall title though their record stands at 1-5 over the 2 seasons. 

Quins kicked things off in impressive fashion putting hosts Bath to the sword in the opening game. Miles Mantella got the first try of the competition, with Chisholm, Lindsay-Hague and Sam Smith also chipping in, and Heathcote scoring the hosts' only try.

In the second game, London Irish made a flying start with three first-half tries, two from Guy Armitage - younger brother of England internationals Delon and Steffon - and another by young winger Watson. But Exeter mounted a sensational comeback with two tries from Arnott, and another with time already up from Matt Goddard, to nick a draw.

That performance clearly took it out of Exeter as they were put to the sword by Quins in the next game, Chisholm helping himself to a hat-trick and Walker also getting on the scoresheet. And London Irish's late woes continued as this time hosts Bath pounced to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Bath captain Paul Roberts took advantage of a slip in the Irish midfield to go over unopposed in the last move of the game after the Exiles had appeared to get out of jail through Pete Synott. Quins completed their impressive evening against rivals Irish, recovering from conceding an early try to win the game.

Walker was the star of the show running in two tries as the Exiles struggled to overcome the fatigue of back-to-back games. But the greatest drama came in the final game with both Bath and Exeter having qualification in their own grasp and it showed with the lead changing hands several times. And even though Henry Slade's late try gave the Chiefs victory, Bath's losing bonus point put them through on points difference.

In rather strange scenes at the end of the final game, Bath chased the match victory rather than kicking the ball out as they were not aware that they were through with the losing bonus point, when the Chiefs got the turnover penalty on their own line, they promptly ended the game themselves by kicking the ball out thinking that they were through with the win. 

It was Quins obvious sevens experience that shone throughout the evening, playing with a swarming defense that worked hard for one another and forced mistakes from the less-experienced other sides in the first leg of the series. Quins held their patterns well, supported line runners and secured ball in the breakdown with much aplomb as the evening went on, which could not be said of the other 3 sides. Coach, Howard Graham will of been pleased with his boys and have an eye on the JP Morgan Asset Management Premiership Series title in front of a home crowd in Twickenham.

Results from the Rec

Harlequins 7s 24-5 Bath Rugby 7s
London Irish 7s 19-19 Exeter Chiefs 7s
Exeter Chiefs 7s 0-36 Harlequins 7s
Bath Rugby 7s 26-22 London Irish 7s
Harlequins 7s 26-12 London Irish 7s
Exeter Chiefs 7s 21-17 Bath Rugby 7s