La Rochelle 10 Chiefs 36

La Rochelle 10 

Exeter Chiefs 36

Mark Stevens at the Stade Marcel Deflandre

Exeter Chiefs maintained pole position in Pool Two of this season’s European Challenge Cup with only their second-ever victory on French soil.

Not since 2010 when they triumphed on their first outing across the Channel to Bourgoin have Rob Baxter’s men toasted success against a Top14 side.

In La Rochelle, though, the Chiefs served up a Christmas cracker for their supporters as tries from Tom James, Brett Sturgess, Byron McGuigan and Fetu’u Vainikolo, together with 16 points from the boot of Gareth Steenson sealed a memorable win for the Premiership team.

The French side countered with a converted first half try from Jean-Pascal Barraque and a second half penalty from Julien Auty, but it was never enough against the slick Chiefs who extended their winning streak to seven games.

After a hat-trick of Premiership wins against Northampton Saints, Wasps and Saracens, it was back to European action for Baxter’s side who showed ten changes from their last outing.

Steenson, who earlier in the day celebrated agreeing a new three-year deal with the club, not only skippered the side, but was also one of the handful of players who kept their starting place. Others included Luke Cowan-Dickie, Moray Low, Dave Ewers and Matt Jess.

For the remainder of the Chiefs side, it was a big opportunity for them to remind Baxter of their proven talents on the big stage.

La Rochelle, meanwhile, paraded a more than useful looking line-up, but they were shy of a number of their more established stars, including Sireli Bobo, Alofa Alofa, . and former Chief Romana Graham.

Roared on by a very partisan home crowd, it was the French side who started the brighter as they threatened with a powerful opening blast.

Just three minutes had elapsed when they were afforded their first chance of the night when the Chiefs were penalised at a ruck just inside their own half, but fly-half Labail was unable to land the lengthy penalty chance, drifting it wide of the right post.

Moments later and they threatened again as Fijian flyer Veivuke showed a nifty turn of speed to evade opposite number James down the right flank. Although he was felled in full flight, the ensuing play saw the ball squirm loose, instigating a race for the line, the results of which were eventually a five-metre try for the hosts.

The Chiefs, though, were slowly finding their rhythm and having probed with a couple of decent carries, they broke the deadlock on 11 minutes when Steenson fired his side in front with a penalty from 25m out.

It was just what the doctored ordered for the visitors, who looked to add to their tally with their slick, high-tempo game plan. Ian Whitten and Haydn Thomas were the next to go close for Baxter’s side, quickly followed by the lively Kai Horstmann and Moray Low, the latter of whom was foiled right under the home posts.

Chances were coming and going like proverbial London buses for the Devonians, but they were unable to make their superiority tell on the scoreboard.

Next Adam Hughes’ burst through the middle gave winger Matt Jess a golden opportunity wide on the right, but again the Exeter man was unable to pounce just yards from the line. From the resultant line-out, Ryan Caldwell’s lift saw him put home lock Cobus Grobler under pressure, allowing Sturgess the opportunity to dive onto the loose ball for a possible score.

Scottish referee Andrew McMenemy went upstairs for a check - and following a flurry of TV replays - the score was chalked off for a knock-on by Caldwell.

It proved a momentary let-off for La Rochelle as the Chiefs hit them with a ‘double whammy’ inside three minutes. Welsh star James was the beneficiary of a scintillating handling move from the visitors as he rounded off great approach work from Byron McGuigan, and Mitch Lees.

Steenson slotted the conversion to that score and Exeter’s second as Sturgess made up for his earlier effort being chalked off when he galloped over from 15 metres out following a brilliant offload from No.8 Horstmann.

With half-time approaching, La Rochelle gave themselves a brief lifeline when a clever kick over the top from Lebail was collected on the run by full-back Barraque, who dotted down without too many problems. Auty’s conversion cut the deficit at the break to just ten points.

HALF TIME LA ROCHELLE 7 EXETER CHIEFS 17

Just as they did in the opening half, La Rochelle started the second period with something about them. Knowing they had to pull themselves back into the contest, they threw everything at the Chiefs during a ferocious opening salvo that began with a chip-and-chase threat from centre Murimurivalu and followed with a successful penalty from Auty after Exeter were pinged at a scrum deep inside their own 22.

But no sooner had the French outfit got themselves to within sight of their rivals, they gifted Steenson another opportunity to strike as he capitalised with a second penalty after the home side were adjudged to have not released following a tackle on Cowan-Dickie.

Clearly La Rochelle had not taken note of Steenson’s metronomic right boot this term, allowing him a third shot on 51 minutes that the Irishman again dispatched with aplomb to nudge the Chiefs further in front.

As home coach Patrice Collazo looked to his bench for fresh impetus, the La Rochelle supporters appeared more interested in starting their own ‘Mexican Waves’

The Chiefs, however, continued to go about their business with minimal fuss as yet another Steenson kick gave the Englishman a healthy buffer from which to attack the final quarter of the game.

La Rochelle, to their credit, refused to go down without a fight as they continued to push forward in search of a late lifeline. Certainly Steenson felt the full force of Veivuke as he looked to defend a clever grubber kick through from Fortassin, but they could find no way through what was proving a miserly Exeter defence.

Turning defence into counter-attack, the Chiefs made the most of a yellow card for Georgian prop Lekso Kaulashvili to work the ball off a line-out move on the left flank where to set up McGuigan who was able to claim his maiden score in Exeter colours.

For the first time in what seems an eternity, Steenson showed he was human after all as he shanked his difficult touchline conversion wide of the mark.

With the bonus point now in sight, the Chiefs went for the jugular as yet more great work from the outstanding Horstmann created the platform for Lewis to feed James, who in turn shipped the ball to his fellow wing Vainikolo, who did the rest with a comfortable finish in the left-hand corner.

With maximum points in the bag, Exeter happily closed out the game, safe in the knowledge they remain in a strong position in Europe.

La Rochelle: J-P Barraque; B Veivuke (K Gourdon), H Gard, K Murimurivalu, D Cler (A Cestaro 62); J Lebail (F Fortassin 55), J Audy; J Seneca (V Pelo 61), B Geledan (R Jansen Van Vurren 61), B Borrust (L Kaulashvili 52); J Grobler (J Quvo Nailiko 52), L Cedaro; B Guyot (B Borrust 75), N Djeballi (capt), L Goujon (A Meron 66).

Try - Barraque; Conversion - Auty; Penalty - Auty

Yellow Card: Kaulashvili

Chiefs: B McGuigan (F Vainikolo 74); M Jess, A Hughes, I Whitten, T James; G Steenson (capt, C Sweeney 74), H Thomas (D Lewis 57); B Sturgess (C Rimmer 53), L Cowan-Dickie (G Bateman 65), M Low (A Brown 65); M Lees, R Caldwell; D Ewers, B White (J Scaysbrook 65), K Horstmann. Replacement (not used): D Mumm

Tries - James, Sturgess, McGuigan, Vainikolo; Conversions - Steenson (2); Penalties - Steenson (4)

Referee: A McMenemy (SRU)

Attendance: 10,864

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIEFS: v La Rochelle (H), European Challenge Cup, Saturday, December 13 (3pm)