Bears 20 Chiefs 35
Bristol Bears 20
Exeter Chiefs 35
Mark Stevens at Ashton Gate
For some time, the Premiership Rugby Cup - or whatever previous guise it has come in - has been seen as a glimpse into the future.
Young Exeter Chiefs stars, both past and present, have used the competition to audition their talents to a wider audience. In many cases, it has been the starting point for careers which have then prospered to even bigger and better things.
For Exeter’s Class of 2022/23, this Round One encounter against Bristol Bears offered just that opportunity for them to go out and shine on the big stage. They didn’t disappoint!
Ricky Pellow’s side kicked off their latest campaign in fine fettle, downing their nearest and dearest with a five-try victory that certainly augurs well for later in the competition.
Lewis Pearson led the way for the visitors with a brace of scores, whilst there were further touchdowns for Jack Innard and Sean O’Brien, alongside a first half penalty try. Fly-half Will Becconsall did the rest of the damage with a perfect night from the tee.
In reply, the Bears - who themselves paraded a mix of youth and experience in their ranks - countered with scores of their own through Harry Rowson, Tom Whiteley and Joe Jenkins (2). It was, however, never enough to dent the confident Chiefs.
Having made the short trek up the M5, the early exchanges at Ashton Gate were largely restricted to an arm wrestle between the respective packs. Both sets of forwards were happy to collide into each other, but there was little meaningful action with ball in hand.
Centre Solomone Kata was the first to show for the visitors, the Tongan international twice going on decent raids into the Bristol half, only for the chance to come and go as quickly as it started.
It was bright enough from the Chiefs, but it would be the hosts who broke the deadlock on 17 minutes, a slick attack down the left creating space for fly-half Sam Worsley to send winger Rowson darting over in the left-hand corner.
Home cheers, however, would prove short-lived as within minutes parity had been restored. Having a won a penalty, the visitors kicked deep into the Bears 22. From the subsequent line-out, the Exeter eight combined as one to set up a driving maul that appeared destined for the line. The Bears did their best to contain the threat, but when Bryan Byrne illegally brought the drive down, he was dispatched to the sidelines for ten minutes and the Chiefs were awarded a penalty try by referee George Selwood.
Up and running - and with a man advantage - the Chiefs could sense they were starting to get the edge in the battle up front. Another penalty allowed them to do exactly as they had done previously and this time they did find their way over the whitewash, skipper Innard the beneficiary from some controlled close-range work by the visiting pack.
Debutant Becconsall converted that score, before adding the extras to Exeter’s third of the night, which came just before the half-hour mark. A huge shove from the Chiefs pack on a Bristol scrum saw them turn over possession, before it was worked through a couple of phases to Pearson, who needed no second invitation to power over from close range.
It was no more than the Chiefs deserved for their efforts in a first half display in which they certainly ruled the roost.
HALF TIME: BRISTOL BEARS 5 EXETER CHIEFS 21
With such a healthy cushion at the turn, the only real question on the resumption was how long it would take for Pellow’s side to claim the all-important bonus point. Bristol, however, had other ideas and within three minutes of the restart, they had doubled their own tally with their second score of the night.
Using a line-out midway inside the Chiefs half, Byrne peeled over the back of it to feed Whiteley, who applied the after burners and was able to scorch his way in despite the attentions of opposite number Tom Cairns.
Any hopes of a Bristol revival, though, were doused soon after as the Chiefs hit their hosts with two tries in just three minutes.
Pearson was the first to cross, claiming his second of the night, when yet more forward pressure allowed the towering lock to drive his way over from close range for the fourth converted score on 47 minutes.
Then, Irishman O’Brien got in on the scoring act himself, the gifted centre applying the finish from just a couple of metres out after No.8 Rus Tuima had caused mayhem in the home ranks with one of his bulldozing runs through the middle of the Bears defensive line.
Although that would signal the end of Exeter’s points-scoring for the night, the Chiefs used the second half to unload their bench, handing first-ever appearances for the club to Joe Bailey, Ben Grubb, Orson James and Frankie Nowell. They joined fellow debutants Becconsall, Fin Richardson and Ross Vintcent - all of whom started the game - in offering there worth to a polished performance from the visitors.
Like the Chiefs, the Bears also took the opportunity to empty their bench during the closing stages. It meant the game became somewhat stop-start and lost the flow of the previous three quarters. It was Bristol, though, who finished the stronger, claiming a try bonus point of their own thanks to a brace from Jenkins.
His first came on 72 minutes when he was able to finish off great work from Deago Bailey, the winger shipping a sublime offload into the path of the centre who was able to canter over from ten metres out.
Then, with the last play of the game, he doubled his own personal tally, this time fending off the attentions of Facundo Cordero to score off a pass from Rowson in the left-hand corner.
For the Chiefs it mattered not. Mission accomplished, it was a rousing start to their latest domestic cup campaign which, on this showing, certainly augurs well for potential stardom further down the line.
Bristol Bears: I Lloyd (H Ascherl 60); D Bailey, J Jenkins, J Williams, H Rowson; S Worsley (D Power 71), T Whiteley (capt, O Lennon 69);T Benz-Soloman (A Turner 62), B Byrne (F Davies 62), J Benz-Soloman (G Kloska 59); M Eames (J Halliwell 71), J Owen; A Tull, M Duncan (J Kerr 21-32), E Harvey. Replacement (not used): F Davies.
Try - Rowson, Whiteley, Jenkins (2)
Yellow Card: Byrne
Exeter Chiefs: D John; A Relton, S O’Brien (F Nowell 68), S Kata (T Wyatt 40), F Cordero; W Becconsall, T Cairns (O James 71); J Iosefa-Scott (D Southworth 48), J Innard (capt, M Norey 64), F Richardson (M Johnson 62); L Pearson, C Teague (J Bailey 68); O Leatherbarrow (B Grubb 60), R Vintcent, R Tuima.
Try - Penalty, Innard, Pearson (2), O’Brien; Conversions - Becconsall (4)
Referee: G Selwood
Attendance: 3,704