Exeter Chiefs player ratings vs Benetton | 2025/26 Challenge Cup

Exeter Chiefs player ratings: Chiefs’ hot run of form after beating Munster so convincingly last weekend was well and truly tested by Benetton, the Italian URC outfit anything but pushovers on their home ground in Treviso.

Both sides went toe to toe exchanging tries in a tense affair in Northern Italy. Rob Baxter was very conservative with deploying his bench, with just one sub made before the 64th minute. A real nail-biter that was ultimately won by Exeter Chiefs at the death, 44-41.

Here is our Exeter Chiefs player ratings:

15. Olly Woodburn – 8.5
A colossal performance from the Exeter full-back. Took his opening try superbly, running straight through Andy Uren from 20 metres after a delayed pass by Henry Slade. His second major contribution was arguably even better, holding his line perfectly to suck in the defender before sending Immanuel Feyi-Waboso away. Excellent game awareness and leadership on an afternoon of serious pressure.

14. Campbell Ridl – 6
A late call-up after Paul Brown-Bampoe was withdrawn, and it showed at times. Didn’t see much ball and therefore struggled to impose himself in attack. Worked relentlessly on kick chase though – he might have been mistaken for a 6’5, biped Golden Retriever – but fell off a few too many tackles to warrant more.

Fixture

Challenge Cup

Benetton

41 - 44

Full-time

Exeter Chiefs

All Stats and Data

13. Henry Slade – 8
Class act when it mattered most. His delayed pass for Woodburn’s first was pure silk and he kept Exeter ticking over in tough spells. Slotted his kicks under pressure, none bigger than the 79th-minute penalty to seal the game. Defensive line wasn’t watertight all night, but that’s splitting hairs.

12. Will Rigg – 6
Had an impossible brief at times, tasked with containing Malakai Fekitoa and Tommaso Menoncello, the latter ripping it up in the first half, breaking the line twice and exposing the Chiefs’ midfield defence. Rigg wasn’t alone in the blame but was one of those at fault for Benetton’s 65th-minute try and was hooked immediately after.

11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – 8
Electric when he touched the ball. His try was sensational, turning Matt Gallagher into a speed bump after Woodburn’s assist. Made another huge break early in the second half as Exeter hit back straight after conceding. Still looks like he might score from anywhere on the field.

10. Harvey Skinner – 7
Started strongly and got his rewards just after the break, wriggling through a gap after fabulous Exeter play to score. Steered the side well in attack but must shoulder some blame for Exeter’s very porous defence around the 10–12 channel, which allowed Benetton to stay alive late on.

9. Steve Varney – 6.5
A decent cog in the machine rather than a true tempo controller on this occasion. Was involved early but found himself under pressure as Benetton ran over him for their first try. Showed plenty of fight against familiar faces.

1. Scott Sio – 7.5
More than solid effort at set-piece and around the park. Up against serious Italian heft and stood his ground. Even chipped in with an assist on a breakdown turnover. Lucky to avoid a yellow card later on, with the referee deeming a questionable tackle ‘passive’, so just a penalty.

2. Jack Yeandle – 6.5
Typically tough and uncompromising from the doughty hooker. Plenty of collisions, plenty of graft. Nothing flashy, but very little wrong before making way just past the hour.

3. Jimmy Roots – 8
Another monster shift following last weekend’s effort against Munster. Delivered some monstrous hits and was hugely influential in the loose. Had his hands full at scrum-time but never took a backward step before being replaced.

4. Dafydd Jenkins – 6.5
Worked tremendously hard defensively, getting through a mountain of tackles. The downside of that workload was falling off more than he would like. Still led from the front in difficult moments.

5. Andrea Zambonin – 8
Outstanding against his fellow Italians. Won a crucial first-half turnover and was reliable at the lineout alongside Jenkins. Crashed over from close range as Exeter immediately responded to Benetton pressure early in the second half.

6. Tom Hooper – 7
A quieter start than Exeter fans have come to expect, with little impact either side of the ball in the opening 50 minutes. Came alive with a telling break in the build-up to Skinner’s try and grew into proceedings thereafter.

7. Ross Vintcent – 7.5
Another Italian international facing his own countrymen and he tackled absolutely everything that moved, and some things that didn’t. One or two slips aside, his work rate was exceptional until his replacement on 72 minutes.

8. Greg Fisilau – 6.5
Failed to make his usual dents with ball in hand but did little else wrong. An industrious outing rather than a headline-grabbing one.

Replacements – 5
A boring afternoon for the bench, largely due to Baxter’s conservative deployment. With just one sub before the 64th minute, they had little time to make an impact. Bachuki Tchumbadze was useful during his stint, but the rest simply weren’t on long enough to fairly judge.