Late bonus could be pivotal

Jack Yeandle feels that Exeter Chiefs’ losing bonus point acquired late in their 25-18 defeat to Leicester Tigers on Saturday could be pivotal come the end of the season.

With the clock having run down, referee JP Doyle awarded the Chiefs a penalty following a scrum close to the Leicester line, which Henry Slade duly kicked.

Saturday’s defeat in the East Midlands has still seen Rob Baxter’s side slip down from second to fifth and out of the play-off positions, but with just three points separating four sides, Slade’s penalty could still end up counting for a great deal.

“That penalty could be a very big moment – hopefully it will prove crucial come the end of the season,” said 25-year-old Yeandle.

“Ideally we would have liked to win – what team wouldn’t? – but it really could prove valuable at the end of it.

“With such a tough run of games coming up, we will grab any points off any of the teams around us that we can. Credit to the boys coming off the bench, they helped us to what was a very valuable bonus point.”

Although Slade’s kick did rescue a point, the Chiefs never came close to repeating their LV= Cup semi-final heroics of two weeks ago when they won 30-22.

Despite having plenty of ball in the Leicester half, the Chiefs – who were not helped by Slade having an off-day with the boot – struggled to convert possession and territory into points.

That was in stark contrast to the Tigers, who had Freddie Burns in fine fettle as he kicked all seven shots at goal for a 20-point haul.

Having gone in at half-time 12-3 down, the Chiefs recovered somewhat in the second period to edge the half with a much better performance.

Head coach Baxter hailed his side’s improvement after the break, and Yeandle revealed that the head coach had demanded after the game that his players start matches exactly as they finished at Leicester.

The former Crediton hooker said: “In the second half we came out and showed a bit more steel in our performance. Rob said afterwards that we need to show that steel from the word go.

“I think the difference was that, in the first half, we gave away some silly penalties rather than just holding them out and sticking to our defensive systems.

“That was costly as it gave them a few easy points, but credit to Burns too, who was kicking very well. We just couldn’t get into the game in the first half. It is a hard place to come though and they were probably hurting from when we beat them in the semis.”