Pirates 42 Chiefs 14
Cornish Pirates 42
Exeter Chiefs 14
Jack Lewis at Mennaye Field
Whether it’s rugby, or the merits of cream before jam on a scone, battles between Devon and Cornwall are never for the faint hearted, and in front of a packed out Mennaye Field, it was a tough outing for a young Chiefs side who came up against a fired-up Cornish Pirates team, determined to make their mark.
With a sell-out crowd baying for derby bragging rights, it was the Cornishmen who powered their way to a deserved victory against a Chiefs side who had very little match experience playing together before this fixture.
The driving maul was to prove the Exeter downfall, with four of the Pirates six tries coming off the back of their powerful pack rumbling over the Chiefs try-line, eventually racking up over 40 points on a challenging night for the men from up the A30.
It was the home side who got off to the stronger start; some good phase play eventually opening up space on the Chiefs flanks and almost bringing an early score, with Pirates No.8, Simon Nagle-Taylor held up over the line by some brave goal line defence by the Chiefs Captain, Joe Simmonds.
Further bad news came for the visitors with Dan John, the young Exeter University full-back, forced from the field in the opening exchanges with a bang to the head.
It didn’t take long for the Cornishmen to find themselves back on the front foot. A fantastic 50:22 brought the Pirates storming back into Chiefs territory on the ten-minute mark. Some nice handling from the tight forwards forcing Exeter onto the back foot and drawing a penalty which the home side sent to touch. From the line-out an ominous driving maul sent the Pirates crashing over for the games opening try, hooker Will Crane claiming the points, ably converted by fly-half Harry Bazalgette.
It took ten minutes for the Chiefs to finally getting their hands on the ball and build some pressure, but in front of an increasingly vocal Penzance crowd, the Pirates defence looked eager to put in some shots, meeting the Chiefs forward pack on the game line with some ferocious tackling that reverberated around the Mennaye Field.
After some back chat from tight-head Josh Iosefa-Scott rubbed referee Tom Foley the wrong way, the Chiefs found themselves marched back 20 metres and from the resulting line-out the Pirates driving maul once again proved a juggernaut to which the Exeter pack had no answer. 14-0 with just 15 minutes on the clock.
Despite plenty of endeavour from the Chiefs pack, they found nothing but brick walls built by a determined and fired-up Pirates defence, and another 50:22 off the back of a Chiefs mistake brought the third driving line-out try for the Cornishmen, this time it was loosehead Walker who claimed the points. The first 25 minutes proving to be a baptism of fire for some of the young guns in the Chiefs ranks!
The first shots from the Chiefs came in the form of a quick snipe by scrum-half Tom Cairns, finding space around the edge of a ruck and setting off into open space.The Exeter nine, raced into the Pirates 22, but without support around him, the Cornishmen were able to scramble back and force a knock on to clear their lines.
It was becoming clear that a lack of game time together was proving an issue for the Exeter pack, and with the line-out struggling, the Pirates found themselves enjoying plenty of turn over ball, forcing the Chiefs onto the back-foot and keeping them pinned back in their own half
With just five minutes remaining in the first half, the Chiefs were inches from conceding again, rescued by Archie Hill scrambling back over his own line just two minutes after entering the field.
It was another snipe from Cairns that brought about the best scoring chance of the half for the men from Devon. Streaking away down-field after squeezing through another gap around the fringes, the young nine’s pass found flyer Hill and saw the Chiefs replacement heading towards the Cornish line. Despite his best efforts, the replacement winger was brought down as he crossed the try-line, not quite able to ground the ball through the efforts of some fantastic last-ditch home defence and bringing to close a first half that had proved a test for this in-experienced Exeter squad.
Half-Time Cornish Pirates 21 Exeter Chiefs 0
It would be an up-hill battle for the Chiefs in the second half but the Devonians began in fine form!
A clever chip over the defensive line from skipper Simmonds, sent Sean O’Brien racing into space with ball in hand. With the Pirates giving away a penalty advantage it was the combination of Simmonds and O’Brien that worked again for the Chiefs, with the captain finding his Irish centre with a long looping pass in wide open space on the wing, and sending him diving over to claim the Chiefs opening points of the night.
The kick battle was undoubtably being won by the home team, making the most of a disjointed Chiefs backline, and yet another 50:22 brought further pressure onto the men from Devon. From the driving line-out, it was more pressure on the Exeter line and the home side crashed over for their fourth of the night, completing the front row union’s try scoring exploits, as tight head Harvey Beaton extended the home lead to 28-7.
The Chiefs found themselves hemmed into their own 22 under a barrage of pressure from a buoyed home side, but the visitors were showing plenty of heart, with some fearsome shots coming in a from the young back-row, keeping Exeter in the game.
O’Brien worked tirelessly from outside centre and began making dents in the Pirates defence with his hard-running, giving the Chiefs some breathing space and finally getting Exeter on the front foot. With skipper Simmonds delving into his box of tricks, it was the short kicking game of the Exeter fly-half that brought the visitors their second of the night.
With the Chiefs breaking into the home sides 22, Simmonds spotted space on the outside and floated a cross-field kick into the Cornish night, with hooker Jack Innard the unlikely recipient. The Chiefs number two did brilliantly to gather wide on the right wing before offloading in-field to find Kian Gentry for the score.
No sooner had they scored at one end, the Chiefs found themselves back under pressure in their own 22, with a mistake from the restart giving the home side possession.The Pirates went back to their weapon of choice for the evening, sending the ball into the corner and powering over the Chiefs line in unstoppable fashion, with Dean Morgan-Nelson, the replacement hooker scoring the Cornishmen’s fifth try of the game!
With both sides emptying the subs bench, the flow of the game began to break down with mistakes creeping into play, but it was the home side who rounded out the night with one final try to bring the home faithful to rapturous applause! Scored by Shae Tucker, it was good phase play by the Pirates that eventually broke down the Chiefs defence, finding space wide on the left hand to round the last Exeter defender and dot down in the corner to bring to a close a thoroughly convincing victory.
Despite the scoreline, this will prove to be valuable minutes for a young and in-experienced outfit.With sterner tests on the horizon, the coaching setup will return to Sandy Park and begin preparations for the visit of Premiership champions Leicester Tigers in eight days' time.
Cornish Pirates: C Penny, R Wedlake, R Parata, J Elderkin, C Sirker, H Bazalgette, T Kessel; M Walker, W Crane, H Beaton, J Fender, W Britton, A Everett, J Stevens (c), S Nagle-Taylor
Tries - W Crane (2) M Walker, H Beaton S Tucker ; Conversions - H Bazalgette (3) A Robson (3)
Chiefs: D John (Ben Hammersley 2); A Relton (A Hill 34), S O’Brien, Tom Wyatt, Benjy Joseland, J Simmonds (c), T Cairns; B Keast (D Southworth), J Innard (O Burrows 68), J Iosefa-Scott (F Richardson 61), T Muil, C Teague, J Thorne (J Hayler 56), R Vincent, W De Boehlmer.
Tries S O’Brien, K Gentry; Conversions - J Simmonds (2)
Referee: T Foley (RFU)