Chiefs 46 Falcons 17

Exeter Chiefs 46

Newcastle Falcons 17

Mark Stevens at Sandy Park

‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ maybe the Box Office draw in cinemas up and down the country this Valentine’s weekend, but Exeter Chiefs served up their own smash hit as they saw off Newcastle Fashion with a stellar showing at Sandy Park.

Rob Baxter’s side return to Aviva Premiership action with a bang, producing a six-try performance that positioned them firmly back amongst the division’s frontrunners.

In a one-sided encounter, the Chiefs had the bonus point wrapped up by half time thanks to scores from Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Thomas Waldrom and a Penalty Try - and there was to be no let-up after the break as Phil Dollman and Haydn Thomas also crossed to seal their success.

Fly-half Slade kicked a further 14 points with the boot, while replacement Steenson also got in on the act with a further two points.

In reply, Tom Catterick’s first half penalty, together with converted second half scores from Ruki Tipuna and Will Welch, were Newcastle’s solitary reward on their long trek to the Westcountry.

After four weeks of action in both Europe and the LV= Cup, it was a welcome return to Premiership duty for Baxter’s side whose three wins in four had seen them advance to the knockout stages of both cup competitions.

As expected, Baxter recalled all of his frontline stars after a brief respite and it didn’t take long for the Exeter mix to gel into place. Just two minutes had elapsed when Slade fired the Devonians in front, slotting a simple penalty from in front of the Newcastle posts after the visitors had strayed offside.

Minutes later and the Chiefs were adding to their tally as Ian Whitten’s powerful charge in from the right flank created the platform from which Thomas Waldrom, Will Chudley and Slade were able to combine, the latter feeding England international Nowell, who ghosted over the whitewash with relative ease for the game’s opening try that Slade duly converted.

It was the ideal start for the Chiefs, who had lost the corresponding game at Kingston Park back in October, but a sloppy bit of defensive play in their own 22 saw them concede a penalty for not rolling away and up stepped Newcastle No.10 Catterick to administer a simple kick.

Slade restored’s the home lead to ten points within minutes with his second penalty - and the talented playmaker then added to his points haul on 26 minutes when he was the quickest to react to an overthrown line-out from Luke Cowan-Dickie, Slade latching onto the loose ball before fending off his opposite number to score a try, which sadly he was unable to convert.

The Chiefs continued to press for more reward and although a couple of chances came and went in quick succession, Exeter’s dominance at scrum time was underlined just before the break when the home pack were duly awarded a penalty try, which Slade was able to convert with aplomb this time round.

Exeter’s dominance was there for all to see as a minute before the break the hosts wrapped up the all-important bonus point. Having milked another scrum penalty, Welch took a lovely one-handed catch at the resultant line-out, Ben Moon and Sam Hill careered the ball forward at a rate of knots, before Waldrom picked up just yards from the line to cross for his 10th try of the season.

Initially referee Tom Foley was undecided on the grounding, but a quick conflab with TV match official Keith Lewis confirmed the inevitable much to the delight of the Sandy Park faithful, who rejoiced Slade’s additional two points just as much.

HALF TIME EXETER CHIEFS 32 NEWCASTLE FALCONS 3

Falcons’ Director of Rugby, Dean Richards, was clearly not impressed by his side’s first half display and for the resumption three new faces emerged in the form of Scott Wilson, Dom Barrow and Alex Tait.

Barrow’s first real interaction into the game, however, was to check his rib-cage was still in tact following a bone-crunching hit from Exeter flanker Dave Ewers in midfield.

Although it was a much improved display from the visitors, it was the Chiefs who continued to offer the greater attacking threat. Chances again went begging as Cowan-Dickie knocked on just five metres out following a Waldrom pass; then Nowell and the lively Phil Dollman both threatened with decent counter raids from deep.

That was until just before the hour mark when the Falcons swooped to claim their first try of the afternoon, scrum-half Tipuna charging down Haydn Thomas’ intended clearance from on his own line.

It was a momentary highlight for the Falcons, who fell further behind in an instance as the Chiefs rattled them with two converted tries in as many minutes.

Full-back Dollman was the first over, rounding off a slick attacking foray that had included big carries from both Ewers and Nowell; then Thomas atoned for his earlier error when he was on hand to snipe over from close range after a succession of pick-and-go drives deep inside the Newcastle 22.

Although Dollman departed the scene late on with a leg injury to leave the Chiefs down a man in the final moments, the Falcons initially failed to make any inroads and it was indeed the home side who continued to pose the greater threat.

However, a minute from time the visitors did expose the numbers game, Tipuna’s quick tap from a penalty allowing Newcastle to work the ball wide to skipper Welch, who dotted down in the right-hand corner for Catterick to convert.

The late score was nothing more than a mere consolation for the Falcons, who have still to win at Sandy Park in four previous attempts. They will, however, get another chance in April when they return for a crunch European quarter-final showdown.

Chiefs: P Dollman; I Whitten (B McGuigan 63), J Nowell, S Hill, M Jess; H Slade (G Steenson 60), W Chudley (H Thomas 56); B Moon (C Rimmer 52), L Cowan-Dickie (J Yeandle 52), T Francis (A Brown 60); D Mumm (capt), D Welch (M Lees 60); D Ewers, B White (T Johnson 63), T Waldrom.

Tries - Nowell, Slade, Penalty Try, Waldrom, Dollman, Thomas; Conversions - Slade (4), Steenson; Penalties - Slade (2)

Falcons: S Hammersley; S Sinoti, A Powell (G Tiesi 57), J-P Socino, A Tuilagi (A Tait h/t); T Catterick, M Blair (R Tipuna 49); R Vickers (M Irving 73), S Lawson (R Hawkins 18), J-P Orlandi (S Wilson h/t); C Green (D Barrow h/t), S MacLeod; M Wilson, W Welch (capt), A Hogg (R Mayhew 49).

Tries - Tipuna, Welch; Conversions - Catterick (2); Penalty - Catterick

Referee: T Foley

Attendance: 7,218

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIEFS: v Harlequins (A), Aviva Premiership, Saturday, February 21 (3pm)