Match Report: Exeter Chiefs 57 – 5 Australian Stockman

An enjoyable evening underneath the floodlights at Sandy Park saw Exeter Chiefs run in nine tries against Australian touring side Stockman Rugby in a Wednesday night friendly.

Just 40 seconds into the encounter and the Chiefs were on the board. An electric burst of pace from Iwan Jenkins saw the fly half sneak through a small gap before darting in a grubber kick up field for Tom Burton to run onto. Stockman couldn’t handle the ball near their line and Burton dove upon it for the score.

A lovely strike at the tee from Jenkins then secured the extra two points.

Sadly for the home crowd, captain Max Norey was forced from the field with what looked to be an ankle injury just six minutes in. Charlie Bell came onto the field for a reshuffle with Sol Moody moving to hooker.

The younger Bell brother was on the field a mere minute before taking control of the ball at the back of the driving maul as it trundled over the line for the Chiefs second of the night. Another clean strike from Jenkins added the extra two.

Moody proved the early position move had not distracted him from the job at hand when he retained power and possession at the back of a driving maul to score Chiefs third of the evening.

A trick play straight off the training field at the lineout gave Chiefs their fourth before the half was through. Tom Cairns tore through the centre of the set piece, keeping his feet and his pace to dart over for the try which Jenkins duly converted.

Half-time: Chiefs 26 – 0 Stockman

Summer signing Kwenzo Blose got another try for the forwards 10 minutes into the second half. Speedy footwork from Burton for a break on the far touchline set the ground work. Speed of ball back inside got Rocky Prowse to within a metre before Blose picked up for the short crash over. The conversion was clean again from Jenkins.

Five minutes after being introduced to the field, South African powerhouse Ethan Burger got Chiefs’ next try. Pace and efficiency at the driving maul saw the big man place the ball down before a nice strike from Jenkins secured the extra points.

Having been searching for the right chance all night, Prowse got a try of his own just after the hour had ticked by. A ball darted off the boot of Jenkins found the winger in the wide channels and the youngster had just a single man to beat.

Chiefs broke the 50-point margin just minutes later when replacement Rhys Williams tore downfield from his own 10 metre line to chase a kick Lance Kruger had searchingly put in.

It took over an hour, but the visitors were able to break the Chiefs stronghold with just 11 minutes left in the game when they trundled over through their forward pack. Though, the conversion angle being tough to judge meant it was just to be the five points they logged beside their name.

The last word of the game would go to Prowse and Jenkins. The former collected a grubber kick put in following an interception to leap over underneath the posts while the latter waited out the clock to put the conversion over in red-time to end the evening’s friendly encounter.

Full-time: Chiefs 57 – 5 Stockman

Chiefs: L Sinclair (Williams 51’); T Burton, J Shortland, C McCaig (Kruger 59’), R Prowse; I Jenkins, T Cairns (Maunder 40’); K Blose, M Norey (C Bell 6’), B Stockton (Keast 29’), E O’Connor (Worley-Brady 59’), A Bell, S Moody (Dowse 63’), L Pearson (Burger 51’), R Edbrooke.

Tries: Burton, C Bell, Moody, Cairns, Blose, Burger, Prowse 2, Williams Conversions: Jenkins 5

Stockman: C Uyen; L Robinson, A Gibbon, R Turner, R Schoupp; N Thomson, J Scarff; O Cunningham, F Lafaitele, I Talbot, M Christensen, R Puliuvea, S Callow, S Laffym J Schwager.

Replacements: Meades, Talbot, Pratt, McPhie, McGrath, Pratt, Papworth, Quigley, Begbie, Ridley, Miles

Tries: 1

Referee: Dan Jones