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Exeter Chiefs put headdress row aside to beat injury-hit Wasps

By PA
Sam Simmonds of Exeter Chiefs celebrates their victory with team mate Dave Ewers (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Exeter continued their march up the table with a hard-earned 27-23 victory over injury-ravaged Wasps who were outgunned but not outfought.

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Wasps ruffled Exeter’s feathers in the build-up to the game by complaining about the Native American-style headdresses worn by some of the Chiefs’ supporters and calling on Premiership Rugby to outlaw them.

The ploy looked to have backfired badly when last season’s beaten finalists scored two tries in the opening 25 minutes and Wasps committed three handling errors in the Chiefs’ 22, but the home side decided to take on their opponents at their own game.

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They twice turned down kickable penalties and kicked to touch. Elliott Stooke secured the first line-out and Exeter had no time to defend the maul as Wasps drove them over the line with hooker Dan Frost in possession.

Just before half-time, Harry Williams conceded a breakdown penalty which Jacob Umaga again kicked to within five metres of Exeter’s line. Vaea Fifita was the target and Exeter’s wrong-footed defence split, allowing Thomas Young to find the line without any support.

It looked a different story at the start of the second quarter when Exeter scored two tries in five minutes after Jimmy Gopperth had landed two penalties to Henry Slade’s one.

Wasps seemed to have survived Josh Bassett’s visit to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Tom Hendrickson when Dave Ewers cracked the defence and Jack Maunder freed Slade to score Exeter’s opening try in the 21st minute.

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The visitors’ second try came after Stooke lost the ball near the Chiefs’ line. Wasps conceded a penalty and were caught out at the following line-out just inside their own half when Harvey Skinner and Stuart Hogg gave wing Facundo Cordero the space to round Marcus Watson.

Wasps had left Exeter struggling for inspiration with the speed of their line defence and they were forced to dig deep at the start of the second period when Exeter mounted a wave of attacks, fortified by five penalties which they either kicked to touch or tapped.

They found no way through, held up short eight times. Frost was sent to the sin-bin for his side’s persistent infringing and a Wasps’ water-carrier was ordered not to return to the field after sparking a melee by kicking the ball away to prevent Exeter taking a quick penalty.

England announce their squad for the autumn on Monday and forwards coach Richard Cockerill saw hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie hobble from the field after falling awkwardly on his left ankle. Gopperth gave Wasps a cushion with his third penalty against the run of play, but Sam Simmonds scored from a scrum after 61 minutes as Exeter rallied back.

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Jonny Hill made up for three handling errors with an acrobatic try in the corner to regain the lead for Exeter who held on after Simmonds’s turnover on Francois Hougaard ended Wasps’ final attack.

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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