Match Report: Gloucester 79 – 17 Exeter Chiefs

It was a highly disappointing day at Kingsholm for Exeter Chiefs who were defeated 79-17 by a dominant, fast-running Gloucester side in Round 15 of the Gallagher Premiership.

The Cherry and Whites scored 13 tries to Chiefs’ three, ensuring there was no question as to who had held the upper hand throughout the encounter.

The home side had the ascendancy from the beginning of the match. Key carries from Santi Carreras and Christian Wade got them deep into Chiefs territory before a penalty allowed them to go for the corner.

The maul drive proved fruitful when Jack Clement crashed over for the opening try, though Carreras’ conversion attempt rebounded off the upright.

Gloucester’s second came from a lineout on the five metre. The hosts drove for the line but as Chiefs were firing their energy into maul defence, hooker Seb Blake spotted space at the corner flag. He tore off the set to cross for five points.

Captain Lewis Ludlow scored Gloucester’s third from a two-on-one against Chiefs winger Ben Hammersley in the five-metre channel. Despite a rebound off the upright, Carreras secured the conversion.

Chiefs couldn’t get on the counter from the restart as Gloucester scored their bonus-point try. Fast handling in the phases and clean footwork to evade defenders put Chris Harris into space to curl a line inside for the score.

There was a fifth before the half hour when centre Seb Atkinson found a soft shoulder in the Chiefs defensive line and ran clean through for a score beneath the posts. Carreras secured the easy conversion.

A miniature goose step to clear a would-be tackler was enough to help Gareth Anscombe score another before Chiefs got on the board as the half was coming to an end.

A strong Greg Fisilau carry broke the gainline in the centre of the Gloucester 22 and re-setting their defence produced an overlap big enough for Josh Hodge to accelerate into. Henry Slade quickly and cleanly took the conversion.

The last say of the half ultimately went to the hosts, however, when Welsh international scrum half Tomos Williams scored his side’s seventh try, which Carreras converted.

Half-time: Gloucester 43 – 7 Chiefs

Two tries in quick succession for Gloucester opened the second half of action. Jamal Ford-Robinson carried from inches out to secure the first. Then, interchange play from Carreras and Wade on the wing saw Wade score the second. Neither were converted as Carreras continued to struggle at the tee.

With changes made for both sides, it was Gloucester who reaped the benefits. Chiefs were looking to fly up in defence but it enabled Atkinson to find an overlap to canter through for his second of the day. Carreras’ conversion took their tally to 60-points.

The closing stages of the match were painful for Chiefs as hooker Singleton scored a hattrick of tries – two from the maul with a third seeing the hooker get on the end of some pacey phases play in the corner.

The Exeter men’s defensive structure was reduced in numbers when Will Haydon-Wood was shown a yellow card for a tackle off the ball on 66 minutes played.

The Chiefs fly-half looked to redeem himself when he scored a try in the 79th minute but it was the smallest of consolation to have the last say when the hosts still held a winning margin of 62 points.

Full-time: Gloucester 79 – 17 Chiefs

Gloucester: S Carreras (Cotgreave 59’); C Wade, C Harris (C Atkinson 65’), S Atkinson, J Morris; G Anscombe, T Williams (Englefield 59’); V Rapava-Ruskin (Ford-Robinson 9’), S Blake (Singleton 53’), A Fasogbon (Gotovtsev 53’), A Clark, F Thomas (Clarke 63’), J Clement (Clarke 9’, Clement 21’, Jordan 63’), L Ludlow (c), R Ackermann.

Tries: Clement, Blake, Ludlow, Harris, Atkinson 2, Anscombe, Williams, Ford-Robinson, Wade, Singleton 3 Conversions: Carreras 6, Anscombe

Exeter Chiefs: J Hodge; B Hammersley (Haydon-Wood 21’), H Slade, J Hawkins (Rigg 50’), P Brown-Bampoe; H Skinner, N Armstrong (Townsend 44’); S Sio (Blose 44’), J Yeandle (Norey 44’), M Street (Iosefa-Scott 4’), R Tuima (Vermeulen 57’), D Jenkins (c), E Roots (Capstick 44’), R Vintcent, G Fisilau.

Tries: Hodge, Rigg, Haydon-Wood Conversions: Slade

Yellow card: Will Haydon-Wood

Referee: Karl Dickson