Warriors 3 Chiefs 42

Worcester Warriors 3

Exeter Chiefs 42

Mark Stevens at Sixways

Exeter Chiefs booked themselves an LV= Cup semi-final date next month with Westcountry rivals Bath as they trounced Worcester Warriors 42-3 at Sixways.

In an impressive showing from Rob Baxter’s side, tries from Tom James, Gareth Steenson, Haydn Thomas (2) and Ceri Sweeney paved the way for them to advance out of Pool Two; whilst Irish fly-half Steenson weighed in with a further 17 points with the boot to complete the job.

The Warriors, winless in the Aviva Premiership all season, were second best in every facet of the game and were never able to match the power and pace of their visitors who were ruthless in attack. Indeed, all the home side could muster in terms of a response was a first half penalty from full-back Chris Pennell.

Sadly, that was the only positive for the Midlanders, whose main objective for the remainder of the season must be to try and preserve their top flight existence.

Already 11 points adrift of Newcastle Falcons at the foot of the Premiership, Dean Ryan’s men desperately need to start winning games of rugby. That said, winning is not a certainty and based on this latest showing they have plenty to ponder in the coming weeks and months ahead.

From the outset at Sixways, the Chiefs - who showed ten changes to the side that had defeated the Ospreys seven days earlier - were quickly into their stride. Up front, their bulky pack was always superior, whilst behind the Exeter backs were razor sharp in their attacking intent.

Just six minutes had elapsed when Welshman James was able to cross for the first of their tries. The Chiefs pack did the initial donkey work, mauling a line-out drive to within strike range, after which scrum-half Dave Lewis exposed the space on the blind-side before shipping the ball to the former Cardiff Blues flyer.

Although Steenson saw his testing touchline conversion just sail wide of the near post, the Exeter No.10 made no such mistake as he added two quick fire penalties to put his side firmly in command at 11-0 with just over 20 minutes played.

The Warriors briefly countered as Pennell landed a lengthy penalty of his own after the visitors had been pulled up by Welsh referee Leighton Hodges for going offside, but that would be their only bright spot in a dark day at the office.

As half-time approached, the Chiefs thought they had added a second try when full-back Luke Arscott was able to dive over in the left-hand corner. Sadly for the Plymouth-born back the officials had spotted a forward pass from Ian Whitten and the effort was chalked off.

It was, however, a momentary let-off for the home side who, with two minutes of the first period to play, allowed Matt Jess to cut in off the flank, brush aside three tacklers before shipping the ball to the onrushing Steenson, who was able to coast under the sticks for a score which he also converted.

HALF TIME    WORCESTER WARRIORS 3    EXETER CHIEFS 18

With a strong wind howling right into their faces, the Chiefs knew they had to adopt a much cuter strategy on the resumption. Earlier pressure initially brought little joy, before Steenson finally got his side up and running again with a penalty after former Cornish Pirates flanker Sam Betty was penalised for straying offside.

The healthy buffer was allowing the visitors to play with plenty of endeavour, but their attacking raids were being thwarted either by some stubborn home defence or the occasional knock-on.

New Zealander Romana Graham came within a whisker of claiming his maiden score in Exeter colours only to spill the ball just inches from the home line, whilst Arscott, Whitten and Ben White continued to punch decent sized holes in the home defence without every troubling the scorers.

As the half progressed, though, so the Warriors slowly began to implode. A needless yellow card for scrum-half Jeremy Su’a - given after he cynically blocked Phil Dollman as he looked to take a quick penalty - not only left his side a man down, but crucially exposed in the numbers game out wide.

Replacement Jonny Arr was sent on to cover the vacant half-back spot, but that meant winger David Lemi - making his first appearance since November - was sacrificed. With the man advantage, the Chiefs rammed home the pressure to deadly effect.

Using a five-metre scrum to position themselves deep behind enemy lines, clever work from Kai Horstmann at the base of the set-piece allowed replacement Thomas to pick the ball from between his legs before sniping over for the try, which Steenson duly converted.

Moments later and Steenson drifted a lengthy penalty kick wide of the mark, but it did not matter as the Chiefs claimed the all-important fourth try of the game with just four minutes remaining.

Former Warriors favourite Horstmann, who enjoyed a stellar return to his old stomping ground, together with Whitten laid the foundations for the score, which again came from the lively Thomas who was able to spot the gap and race over once more.

With the job done and dusted, Welshman Sweeney put the icing on the cake with the final play of the game as he picked off a telegraphed pass from Aussie Paul Warwick on halfway before racing unopposed to the posts. Steenson added the extras to seal the success and a last four date with their arch rivals at the Recreation Ground.

Warriors: C Pennell; J Drauniniu, M Stelling, R Fatiaki, D Lemi (J Arr 61); I Mieres (P Warwick ht), J Su’a (J Stephenson 72); G Porter (O Fanga’anuka ht), C Brooker (E Shervington 60), R O’Donnell (J Andress ht); J Percival (D Schofield 49), M Galarza; M Williams, S Betty, J Thomas (capt, R De Carpentier 22-29).

Yellow Card: Su’a

Penalty - Pennell

Chiefs: L Arscott; M Jess, I Whitten, S Naqelevuki (P Dollman ht) T James (C Sweeney 66); G Steenson (capt), D Lewis (H Thomas 52); B Moon (C Rimmer 57), J Yeandle (C Whitehead 15), A Brown (H Tui 57); R Graham (W Carrick-Smith 66), D Welch; B White (J Phillips 57), J Scaysbrook, K Horstmann.

Tries - James, Steenson, Thomas (2), Sweeney; Conversions - Steenson (4); Penalties - Steenson (3)

Referee: L Hodges (WRU)

Attendance: 5,447

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIEFS: v Northampton Saints (H), Aviva Premiership, Saturday, February 8 (7pm)