Chiefs book place in Sevens final

Pictures: Pinnacle Photo Agency

By Mark Stevens at Kingsholm

Exeter Chiefs joined defending champions Gloucester in booking their place at Finals Night in this season’s Singha Premiership 7s.

Ricky Pellow’s young charges overcame a heavy defeat in their opening game against the Cherry & Whites to then see off rivals Bath and London Irish.

It means the Devonians will now head for the capital as one of eight sides who will battle it out for glory at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday week.

Up against Gloucester in the night’s opening game, it was always going to be a tough ask for Pellow’s youngsters.

Indeed, it took just two minutes for the Cherry & Whites to make their mark, claiming the first of their six tries when Lloyd Evans was able to finish under the posts and convert his own score.

Minutes later and Gloucester were at it again, this time claiming a score through Mark Atkinson, who was able to dot down in the right corner after the hosts had exploited the numbers game out wide.

The Chiefs were in desperate need of a response and it duly arrived when a spell of sustained pressure was rewarded with an unconverted try for skipper Sam Simmonds.

But no sooner had the men from Devon hauled themselves back into the contest, they allowed their rivals to add a third try with the last play of the half. Quick thinking from Atkinson caught the Chiefs napping and he was able to release the deadly Steph Reynolds to race clear. Evans converted for a 19-5 lead at the break.

It was to get no easier for the Chiefs on the resumption as the lightning Reynolds claimed his second of the game, scorching down the right flank - much to the acclaim of the notorious ‘Shed’ who cheered his ever step.

Further misery was to follow for the visitors as Evans added a second converted score, before fancy footwork from Ben Vellacott set up Will Safe to seal maximum points for Gloucester with a 36-5 success.

Next up for the Chiefs was the clash with Bath, who themselves opened up their account with a comfortable 26-0 victory over London Irish.

However, Pellow’s young guns were much improved in their second outing with Sam Simmonds leading the charge.

Just two minutes had elapsed when the Chiefs opened the deadlock, Alex Ducker the beneficiary after his team-mates had cleverly turned over Bath deep inside their own half.

Exeter’s lead proved short-lived, though, as Shaquille Jack levelled things up with a simple finish, even though Joe Simmonds had done brilliantly to initially cover a break from Apolosi Sokia.

At the other end, Jack Maunder should have restored Exeter’s lead, but he knocked on with the line just inches away, and Bath made the England Under-18s starlet pay as Sokia claimed a second try on the stroke of half time.

Although unlucky to be trailing at the break, the Chiefs ruled the roost in the second period as the Simmonds brothers took charge.

Sam levelled the tie when he finished off in the corner with a converted score and brother Joe was then able to add the extras to Matt Eliet’s score in the right corner, the Exeter University youngster finishing off some outstanding work from the Exeter skipper.

With time all but up, the Chiefs wrapped up their victory when Eliet’s clever switch back in midfield allowed Pete Laverick to race in under the posts. Joe Simmonds converted to give Exeter a 26-10 triumph.

Meanwhile, Gloucester booked their spot at Finals Night with a game to spare as they eased past London Irish 31-7 in game four.

Facing the Exiles in their final outing of the evening, it was one-way traffic for the Chiefs as they made the most of their rest break to run in six tries.

Sam Skinner claimed their first after just two minutes, latching onto a loose Irish line-out and touching down with ease.

Moments later and they hit Irish with a double blast as first Laverick raced the length of the field to score try number two, before Sam Simmonds eased over from close range after another searing break from the speedy Laverick to make it 24-0 at the turn.

Already well in command, the Chiefs went for the jugular in the second period and wrapped up their success courtesy of tries from Laverick, Adam Worth and Stu Townsend. Joe Simmonds converted two of the scores to leave a final scoreline of 43-0.

In the final game of the night, Gloucester made it a hat-trick of wins as they defeated Bath 24-7.

Meanwhile, Chiefs supporters wanting to get further into the Sevens vibe will be heartened to know that the European Grand Prix Sevens Series will be returning to Sandy Park again next summer.

Exeter played host to the final leg of this year's series, which was won by France, and organisers are already promising that next year's event will be even bigger and better.

Running alongside the European GP Series will be the South West Rugby 7s tournament, details of which will be announced in the not too distant future via all of the club's and Sandy Park's media outlets.