Chiefs 50 Gloucester 33
Exeter Chiefs 50
Gloucester Rugby 33
Mark Stevens at Sandy Park
Whatever the guise it comes in, Exeter Chiefs tend to make the most of their involvement in Premiership Rugby’s domestic cup competition.
Over the years it has been the breeding ground for some of the club’s now elite names to take their first steps into senior rugby. Messrs Cowan-Dickie, Nowell, Simmonds and Slade all started at this point - and now it’s time for the latest crop of young hopefuls to take centre stage and showcase their worth.
Under the watchful eye of coach Ricky Pellow, the Class of 2022/23 have already lived up to their early promise. Today, they further enhanced their credentials by helping the Chiefs secure a place in the semi-finals with victory over visiting Gloucester at Sandy Park.
Facundo Cordero, Rus Tuima and Dan Frost all helped themselves to a brace of tries, whilst there was a further touchdown for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as the Devonians secured maximum reward against their Westcountry rivals.
Whether those seven scores, plus a 15-point haul from Iwan Jenkins, is enough to secure home advantage in the last four remains to be seen, but Gloucester themselves played their part in an entertaining Sunday showdown, bagging tries of their own through Ben Meehan, Seb Blake, Jacob Morris, Alex Morgan and Jack Reeves to keep alive their own faint hopes of a semi-final spot.
Fresh from their bonus point victory over Bath, plus the news that they had been awarded all five points for their cancelled clash with the now defunct Worcester Warriors, the Chiefs headed into this final pool game knowing victory would ensure them of their place in the last four of the competition.
Ahead of kick-off, the hosts made four changes to their winning formula, drafting in Jack Dunne and Lewis Pearson into the back, while behind there were starts for Will Becconsall and Solomone Kata.
Gloucester, meanwhile, arrived in Devon having produced a perfect record in the Cup so far this season. With three bonus point wins to their name, they also knew success over their Westcountry rivals would put them in pole position for a home semi-final.
They brought in former England international Billy Twelvetrees as a late inclusion in their midfield, but the experienced back could do little to combat a ferocious opening blast from the Chiefs, who took just three minutes to opening their account for the afternoon.
A loose Gloucester line-out was gobbled up by Josh Iosefa-Scott, whose drive down field instigated a slick Exeter attack that saw Kata and Dan John combine to set-up young winger Feyi-Waboso for his maiden score for the club. Jenkins converted to make it a maximum haul.
Home cheers proved short-lived, however, as the visitors drew level within minutes with their first meaningful attack of the game. Fielding position just inside their own half, Gloucester worked the ball back inside to Barton, who exposed the numbers game out wide, turning on the after burners before shipping a simple pass inside to Meehan who was able to dot down under the sticks for the converted score.
Undeterred by the momentary setback, the Chiefs were quickly back into their attacking groove, stinging their rivals with two tries in the space of five minutes. Cordero was the scorer on both occasions, the Argentine international first cruising over from a strike move off a scrum in the centre of the pitch, before then finishing on the opposite flank after the home side had picked off the Cherry & Whites with a razor-sharp attack.
As before, there was a rapid response from the visitors, who made the most of a soft penalty conceded by Kenny to kick for the corner. The hosts knew what was coming, but stopping it was another matter and over went hooker Blake from a well-constructed driving maul.
The remainder of the half, however, belonged to the Chiefs, who having stretched their lead with a penalty from Jenkins, added the all-important bonus point score just before the half-hour mark.
Just as Gloucester had done moments earlier, the Chiefs used a line-out move of their own to create the platform for Fijian flanker Tuima to burrow his way over from close range, Jenkins obliged with the extras once more.
With the half all but up and the Chiefs in control, the hosts thought they had scored once again, but an early blast of the whistle from referee Mike Hudson denied John the chance of adding to the home tally.
HALF TIME: EXETER CHIEFS 29 GLOUCESTER RUGBY 12
The healthy half time buffer was just what the Chiefs would have craved, but it took just five minutes of the second period for the hosts to extend their advantage, Tuima striding this way over by the posts after he ran a lovely line through the heart of the Gloucester defence.
Up against it, Gloucester knew they needed to find a way back into the contest. Having been denied with a brilliant last-gasp tackle on the Chiefs line, they gave themselves a lifeline back into the match when a decent shift across the field created time and space for Morris. Still with plenty to do, the winger drove hard and straight, shaking off the attentions of a Chiefs defender to score. Barton obliged wit the extras to ensure maximum reward.
The score seemed to ignite the visitors, who continued to push forward in numbers in pursuit of further reward. The Chiefs turned to their bench to freshen matters up and it was one of those replacements, hooker Frost, who bagged Exeter’s sixth try when he stole over from close range. Again, Jenkins plundered a sublime conversion to inch his side ever closer to the half-century mark.
Not content with one to his name, Frost then doubled his tally just minutes later. Centre Sean O’Brien made the initial burst, before offloading to Frost, who with a turn of pace more akin to a winger, side-stepped his way inside two Gloucester defenders to score once more.
It was pure filth from the hooker, who has settled well to life with the Chiefs following his recent switch from Wasps.
With 50 points up on the board, the job was effectively done and dusted for the home side. Gloucester, though, were far from done and they showed their fighting spirit in a heroic last five minute spell, which also brought about two tries.
The first was simply majestic as a clever grubber kick in behind from Twelvetrees sparked a foot race that allowed team-mate Kyle Moyle to produce a ludicrous flick back inside off the touchline, thus allowingMorgan to collect the loose ball and dot down for the bonus point.
Barton slotted the extras to that score and Gloucester’s final effort which came courtesy of a length of the field score from Morris. Having somehow turned over a Chiefs line-out just yards from their own line, the visitors masterfully recycled possession into the winger’s hands and he did the rest, outpacing the chasing Feyi-Waboso to wrap things up.
For the Chiefs, it’s onto Europe and then the Premiership, but come the New Year the Premiership Rugby Cup will be back on the agenda and the new kids on the block will be ready to blast their latest tune in the last four of the competition.
Chiefs: D John; I Feyi-Waboso, S O’Brien (Z Wimpish 76), S Kata (T Hendrickson 62), F Cordero; I Jenkins, W Becconsall (T Cairns 62); J Kenny (D Southworth 52), J Innard (capt, D Frost 52); J Iosefa-Scott (P Schickerling 55); J Dunne (J Bailey 72), L Pearson; R Tuima (S Grondona 55), A Davis, G Fisilau.
Tries - Feyi-Waboso, Cordero (2), Tuima (2), Frost (2); Conversions - I Jenkins (6); Penalty - I Jenkins
Gloucester: J Hathaway (K Moyle 40, J Reeves 76); A Morgan, J Reeves (M Adderley-Jones 63), B Twelvetrees, J Morris; G Barton, B Meehan (capt, M Jones 72); A Seville (A McArthur 62), S Blake (F Theobold-Thomas 62), K Gotovtsev (B O’Connor 62); A Davidson (R Nixon 23), A Clark; F Thomas, J Clement, J Bartlett (D Eite 48).
Tries - Meehan, Blake, Morris, Morgan, Reeves; Conversions - Barton (4)
Referee: M Hudson.
Attendance: 8,972