Bath 18 Chiefs 20
Bath 18
Exeter Chiefs 20
Mark Stevens at The Rec
If tomorrow is ‘Super Saturday’ in the Aviva Premiership, then ‘Fantastic Friday’ offered the perfect build-up as Exeter Chiefs extended their lead at the top of the division to 11 points with victory over Bath.
Rob Baxter’s side only collected their first-ever Premiership win at the Recreation Ground last season, when late heroics from James Short saw them down their local rivals right at the death.
A year down the line and Devon’s finest again left it late to grab the spoils in this derby encounter, Joe Simmonds pocketing a penalty three minutes from time to ensure the Chiefs of their 13th win of the campaign.
The young fly-half bagged half of his side’s points on the night, whilst older brother Sam and fellow forward Jonny Hill weighed in with the remaining points.
Bath, who offered a spirited fight all evening, countered with tries of their own through Matt Banahan and Paul Grant, plus points from the boots of Freddie Burns and Rhys Priestland, but it was not enough to dent the Chiefs who remain firmly on course for a home semi-final in the play-offs
Returning to Premiership action for the first time in a fortnight, the table-topping Chiefs were looking to build on recent home wins over Northampton Saints and Saracens with a similar outcome against their nearest and dearest.
Baxter paraded a powerful visiting line-up, which was boosted by the return from Six Nations duty of prop Tomas Francis, together with back-row forwards Don Armand and Sam Simmonds.
Bath, meanwhile, also had their international stars back in harness as Taulupe Faletau and Jonathan Joseph were brought into their starting mix as they looked to keep their hopes of a top six finish alive in this much anticipated Westcountry derby.
It was the Chiefs, however, who started the brighter on a damp night in the Roman City. Baxter’s side dominated early possession and territory and broke the deadlock on seven minutes when Joe Simmonds slotted them in front with a routine penalty after Bath winger Matt Banahan had been pulled up for straying offside in midfield.
Moments later and the Chiefs were back on the offensive with the back-row trio of Dave Ewers, Armand and Sam Simmonds leading their charge. All three were being used as significant battering rams to try and break down the Bath defensive wall.
The hosts were proving tough nuts to crack and they happily soaked up the Exeter pressure with relative ease. At the other end, Todd Blackadder’s men were meeting an equally miserly Chiefs rearguard, who were standing firm under the pressure.
The first quarter came and went without any real incident, but when the Chiefs declined a kickable penalty for that of a punt to the right corner, the visitors sensed their opportunity. The line-out drive five metres out was dealt with easily enough by the home side, but when Exeter reverted to their tried-and-trusted, pick-and-go game, they found greater reward.
Sam Skinner, Armand and Ewers all threatened the home line, before lock Jonny Hill took control just a few yards out to drive powerfully over the whitewash. Referee Wayne Barnes was initially unsure as to the validity of the score, but a quick conflab with TMO Rowan Kitt rubber-stamped the score, which Joe Simmonds converted.
Up by ten points, the Chiefs were sitting pretty as the half ticked by. However, soft penalties conceded in the final ten minutes allowed Burns to send over two kicks and reduce the arrears to just four points at the turn.
HALF TIME BATH 6 EXETER CHIEFS 10
Just as they had done in the first period, the Chiefs re-emerged with real gusto. Winger Ian Whitten led the charge with a trademark run, but it was the chasing cavalry that milked a penalty for a high tackle by Banahan.
Again, the Chiefs declined the kick at goal, instead opting for the corner. Jonny Hill took the set-piece, the shove went on from his fellow forwards, before it was flung back inside for the backs to take over. They huffed and puffed, but just as they were about to pounce, Baxter’s side were pulled up for crossingjust meters from the try-line.
Undeterred, the Chiefs came again with Ewers and Sam Simmonds again to the fore. Brother Joe then had a go, as did Sam Hill, as the pressure started to mount on the home side. Bath were scrambling all over the place, but in the end they could do little to stop Sam Simmonds from scoring at the base of the post.Joe Simmonds added the simple extras.
Bath needed a response to Exeter’s powerful opening blast and on 54 minutes it arrived when, following a period of trucking it up through the middle, the ball came out to Burns, whose clever cross-field kick spotted a vacant gap in behind the Exeter back-line that allowed Banahan to gobble up the bouncing ball and score in the right corner.
Burns, however, could not land the testing touchline conversion, pulling it wide of the far post to leave the Chiefs six points up.
The score riled the Chiefs coaching staff, but also the players themselves and they quickly regrouped to get themselves back on the front foot. Just as they had done earlier in the half, the visitors again pressed hard in attack, winning another penalty chance.
Sadly, Joe Simmonds could not capitalise on this occasion, screwing his 30-metre effort wide of the mark, much to the delight of the natives in the home crowd.
As the game entered into the final quarter, there was little to separate the two sides, both of whom were now emptying their benches in a bid to add fresh sparkle to the contest.
And it was Bath replacement Grant, who was the man to ignite the Rec, racing through the middle to power over following good work from Joseph and Faletau to score just right of the posts. Priestland added the conversion to put Bath in front for the first time in the match.
But no sooner had Priestland become the hero for the home side, he quickly switched to villain of the peace as it was his error that gifted possession back to the Chiefs at a crucial stage.
Under no real pressure, the Welshman dropped a simple pass, Armand latched onto in an instance and as the England international fly-hacked the ball forward, sparking a sprint towards the line, it took a last-gasp intervention from Cooper Vuna to save the day for the home side.
The pressure, though, was far from off and with the Chiefs handed a five-metre line-out after Vuna kicked the ball out under pressure, the reigning champions sensed the moment was there for them to land a knockout blow.
They secured possession from the line-out, the drive went on from the Exeter eight, and for all the money in the world it seemed inevitable the visitors would grab their third try. Stu Townsend was directing operation from the back of the maul and when he eventually took charge of the ball, he burrowed for the line.
Barnes was again unsure and sought advice from the TMO, but on this occasion there was no obvious grounding on countless replays and the Chiefs were denied the score.
They did, however, still have the resultant scrum and when they pushed again, they did enough in attack to force at least two Bath defenders to stray offside, gifting Joe Simmonds the opportunity to fire his side back in front with just minutes remaining.
Bath did their best to wrestle back possession from the restart, but the Chiefs masterfully worked it back to halfway where they won another penalty. Out of the range of Simmonds, it was Slade who stepped forward to take aim. His mammoth kick certainly had the distance, it probably had another 20m on it if needed, but the ball cannoned back off the left post.
Blackadder’s hosts snaffled up the loose ball, but deep inside their own 22 they knew they had to run from deep to rescue the match. They tried their best, going left, then right, then left again, but the well-drilled Chiefs were having none of it, turning over the ball to secure a priceless derby day scalp.
Bath: T Homer; M Banahan, J Joseph, J Wilson, A Brew (C Vuna 67); F Burns (R Priestland 61), K Fotuali’i (C Cook 61); B Obano, N Charles (T Dunn 50), H Thomas (S Knight 70); C Ewels, E Stooke (J Phillips 61); M Garvey (capt), T Ellis (P Grant 61), T Faletau. Replacement (not used): N Auterac
Tries - Banahan, Grant; Conversion - Priestland; Penalties - Burns (2)
Chiefs: P Dollman (S Cordero 67); I Whitten (G Steenson 77), H Slade, S Hill, L Turner; J Simmonds, N White (S Townsend 61); A Hepburn (B Moon 53-73), J Yeandle (capt), T Francis (G Holmes 53); S Skinner, J Hill (M Lees 61); D Ewers (D Dennis 53), D Armand, S Simmonds. Replacement (not used): J Innard.
Tries - J Hill, S Simmonds; Conversions - J Simmonds (2); Penalties - J Simmonds (2)
Referee: W Barnes
Attendance: 14, 509