Irish 15 Chiefs 22

London Irish 15

Exeter Chiefs 22

Mark Stevens at the Madejski Stadium

When push came to shove, it was Exeter Chiefs who powered their way to a ninth Aviva Premiership victory of the season against lowly London Irish.

Having trailed 7-6 at the break, Rob Baxter’s side returned to winning ways in the top flight with a hard-fought win that was not only timely, but helped to keep an ever-increasing chasing pack in the play-off race at arms length.

Replacement Dave Lewis scampered over for Exeter’s only try of the game, while fly-half Gareth Steenson (pictured below) did the rest of the damage with an unblemished 17 points with his trusty right boot.

In reply, Irish - who outscored their rivals 2-1 on the try-sheet - claimed touchdowns from Ofisa Treviranus and Topsy Ojo, while rookie playmaker Theo Brophy Clews added a conversion and a penalty.

It was, however, Exeter’s steely approach up front - particularly during the second period - that proved telling as a succession of scrum penalties allowed the deadly Steenson to punish his rivals.

Despite suffering back-to-back losses to Saracens and Sale Sharks, Baxter resisted the temptation to make changes for this latest league encounter as fielded an unchanged starting XV for the game. Indeed, the only changes came on the bench where international duo Tomas Francis and Michele Campagnaro were included at the expense of Harry Williams and Max Bodilly.

Irish, meanwhile, made four changes in personnel following their hefty 35-7 loss at Northampton Saints the week previous. Three of them came up front where Tom Smallbone, Elliott Stooke and Ofisa Treviranus all returned, while behind youngster Brophy Clews was given the nod at fly-half ahead of Shane Geraghty.

In a frantic opening to the contest, one which was largely devoid of anything other than a territorial kicking battle, it was the Chiefs who momentarily threatened with a half chance, Phil Dollman and Will Chudley combining off a quickly taken penalty only for the former to spill the ball in the tackle as he tore into the Irish 22.

The hosts made the most of the let off as with their first meaningful attack, they stung Baxter’s side with the opening try of the game on 11 minutes. Using line-out ball wide on the right, winger Topsy Ojo cut in off the flank to collect the ball on the charge, before delivering a simple offload to Treviranus, who was waiting on his left shoulder and thundered in under the posts for the score, which Brophy Clews duly converted.

Exeter looked to summon a response of sorts almost immediately, but a combination of defiant defence from the Exiles and a mounting penalty count, were thwarting their endeavours as they pushed forward in pursuit of points.

Eventually, though, they did get their afternoon up and running when Steenson landed a lengthy penalty after Irish were pulled up by referee Dean Richards for taking a man out off the ball.

Minutes later and the visitors positioned themselves deep within the Irish 22 with another golden opportunity, but as they looked destined to head for the line from a well-worked catch-and-drive move, again they were to be thwarted by another loud blast of Richards’ whistle for holding on.

Frustrated at one end, the Chiefs were then forced to scramble in defence at the other as Irish threatened to add to their tally. Smart approach work saw them attack at pace deep inside the Chiefs half and it took a desperate tackle from Chudley to deny Johnny Williams as he looked to pick a way through the Exeter rearguard.

Thankfully, the Devonians withstood the threat and then made the most of David Paice’s yellow card just before the break to cut the deficit to just a point when Steenson landed his second penalty of the game after Irish were deemed to have dropped a scrum in front of their own posts.

HALF TIME LONDON IRISH 7 EXETER CHIEFS 6

After the largely uneventful first period, things didn’t exactly start great for the Chiefs on the resumption as flanker Julian Salvi was adjudged to have taken Stooke out in the air as he looked to gather. It was somewhat harsh on the Aussie openside, but Brophy Clews didn’t care one bit as he slotted the resultant penalty.

Within minutes the Chiefs countered to deadly effect as first Steenson slotted his third penalty of the game, then the Irishman plundered the extras to Exeter’s opening try, which was scored by Lewis.

The scrum-half had only been on the field a matter of three minutes, but having seen his forwards trundle their way to within yards of the Irish line, his quick-thinking at the base of a ruck saw him snipe through a gap and over in the right-hand corner.

In the lead for the first time in the contest, now the Chiefs were beginning to take control of proceedings. Again, strong work from the forwards saw them edge ever closer to the line, but when it was spun wide from Sam Hill to Olly Woodburn, the winger could not quite gather and the chance came and went in an instance.

Undeterred, the visitors piled forward again and when they worked turnover ball deep inside the Irish 22, Cowan-Dickie’s intended pass out wide was blatantly hammered to the floor by Ian Nagle right in front of the gaze of Richards. The home lock was duly dispatched to the cooler for ten minutes and Steenson made no mistake with the resultant penalty.

Now nine clear of their rivals, the Chiefs looked to hammer home their numerical advantage to the full. More attacking pressure saw them set up camp deep inside the home 22, but as Ian Whitten looked to find an opening, he was stripped off possession, allowing the hosts to release Ojo down the right. As the veteran winger galloped down the right wing, the hot pursuing Don Armand (pictured) was closing by the second. In the end, Ojo had just enough in the tank to see off the African’s chase and score in the corner.

Whereas all had looked comfortable for the Chiefs just moments earlier, now Irish - battling for survival at the foot of the table - suddenly had something on which they could hang a final throw of the dice.

Up front, though, Baxter’s side certainly had the edge and with the fresh front-row consisting of Messrs Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie and Francis wreaking havoc, they gleaned a series of important scrum penalties, one of which was dispatched with aplomb by the laser-guided boot of Steenson.

Irish - who won the same fixture 12 months ago in dramatic fashion late on - did their best to salvage a similar outcome in the dying embers, but the Chiefs were having none of it as they manfully stood firm, starving their rivals of possession, before Steenson punted the ball to Row Z of the West Stand.

Done and dusted, the Chiefs knew immediately the importance of the result, now they have to ready themselves for an equally testing assignment against Bath at Sandy Park in a week’s time.

Irish: A Fenby; T Ojo, F Mulchrone, J Williams, C Hearn; T Brophy Clews, S Steele (D Allinson 64); T Smallbone (T Court 54), D Paice (G Ellis 69), H Aulika (L Halavatau 54); M Symons (I Nagle 16-19, 25), E Stooke; O Treviranus (J Trayfoot 62), L Narraway (capt), R McCusker (G Ellis 40-45). Replacements (not used): S Geraghty, C Lewis-Pratt.

Tries - Treviranus, Ojo; Conversion - Brophy Clews; Penalty - Brophy Clews

Yellow Cards: Paice, Nagle

Chiefs: P Dollman; O Woodburn, I Whitten, S Hill (M Campagnaro 61), J Short; G Steenson, W Chudley (D Lewis 48); B Moon (A Hepburn 55), J Yeandle (capt, L Cowan-Dickie 55), M Low (T Francis 55); J Hill (O Atkins 61), G Parling; D Armand, J Salvi, T Waldrom (K Horstmann 72). Replacement (not used): W Hooley,

Try - Lewis; Conversion - Steenson; Penalties - Steenson (5)

Referee: D Richards

Attendance: 5,892