Exeter Chiefs face an early test of their title credentials
Exeter face an early test of their title credentials when they travel to London to face a strong Wasps side on Saturday. The Chiefs thrashed Leicester in their opener to surge to the top of the table, but they face an altogether sterner challenge this coming weekend.
They are still smarting from last season’s Grand Final defeat at the hands of Saracens, and they are itching to make amends, so they should be dangerous in the early weeks of the campaign. But Wasps proved they are up for a battle when they scraped a narrow victory over Worcester in their opener, so it should prove to be an entertaining showdown.
Read a BetOnline review and find the best Premiership rugby odds on the market and you will see that Saracens are the favourites to win the title this season, while Exeter are second favourites and Wasps are third in the betting.
This therefore represents an early chance for both teams to lay down a marker for a glorious season. Wasps were unconvincing in that 21-20 win over unfancied Worcester, who are the odds-on favourites to finish bottom of the league this season. Director of rugby Dai Young conceded Wasps were “nowhere near perfect” and demanded more of his troops going forwards.
Had Duncan Weir not blown a glorious opportunity to win the game, Wasps would have begun the season with a humbling and somewhat embarrassing defeat.
“If you would have given me a one-point win before the game I would have accepted it,” said Young. “I knew it was going to be a tough game. The first game is always tough and we knew we would be up against it. In fairness to them, they forced us into a lot of errors and we made a lot of unforced errors as well, which gave them a deserved 13-point lead. We came out second half and that game could have gone either way really, but we found a way to get our noses in front. There are a lot of things to work on. It was nowhere near the perfect performance. But we found a way to dig in and come away with the result we wanted.”
They will have to dig in extremely hard if they are to repel an Exeter team that finished eight points clear of Saracens to top the table last season. Yet Wasps can take inspiration from the 13-7 victory they secured against the Chiefs in February, where they soaked up pressure well and prevailed in a ferocious arm wrestle.
They are poised to unleash Super Rugby recruits Lima Sopoaga and Brad Shields on Exeter on Saturday, and million-dollar man Sopoaga is expected to provide added sting in Wasps’ tail.
He will have to step up and replace Danny Cipriani, who was a forced to be reckoned in that role for Wasps last season, but he certainly has the ability to pull it off.
Exeter sent out an ominous warning to their rivals with that thumping victory over Leicester. It is a mark of how far they have progressed in recent years that the win over a good team felt so routine. They ran in six tries against the Tigers, who were packed full of England internationals but made to look weak in the face of Exeter’s dominance. Matt Kvesic has had a tough time of it recently, but he was on fire in this game.
“We’re starting to see the real Matt Kvesic again,” said Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby. “He looks like a man who’s been denied food. He wants his fill of rugby.”
The first week of the season suggested that Exeter and Saracens will once again compete for the title in May. The Chiefs have won 12 of their last 18 games against Wasps, and another victory here would give everyone at the club a massive psychological boost. But Wasps could thrive if they shake off their rustiness and push Sopoaga to reach his full potential, so it should be an enthralling game.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
1 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
8 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
8 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
8 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
8 Go to comments