Exeter ease to bonus-point victory at London Irish
Gallagher Premiership leaders Exeter posted a sixth league win of the season by beating London Irish 45-28 at the Madejski Stadium.
The Chiefs delivered a strong bonus-point display, decisively scoring three converted tries in seven minutes before half-time.
Irish battled away to claim four tries of their own and collect a losing bonus point, with Exeter briefly being reduced to 13 men in the second half when wing Olly Woodburn and centre Ollie Devoto were sin-binned for deliberate knock-ons.
Lock Davie Dennis, hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and Devoto all followed Sam Hill over the Irish line before the break, and there was no way for an Exlies side condemned to a third successive league defeat.
Hill added his second try just after the break, before substitute scrum-half Stu Townsend crossed.
And although Irish responded with touchdowns by wing Belgium Tuatagaloa, number eight Albert Tuisue, wing Ollie Hassell-Collins and flanker Steve Mafi – all converted by Stephen Myler – Exeter were good value.
Gareth Steenson finished with 15 points from six conversions and a penalty for Exeter, and they remain top of the Premiership pile heading into a fortnight of Heineken Champions Cup rugby.
England head coach Eddie Jones was among the crowd, and Exeter should have taken a fifth-minute lead when they worked blindside space well, but Woodburn dropped a scoring pass.
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The Chiefs, though, only had to wait another two minutes before opening their account, with strong work by the pack setting up an attacking platform before Hill crossed for a try which Steenson converted.
Irish were starved of possession during the early stages, yet they made the most of their first opportunity, switching play from a scrum and Tuatagaloa crossed on the overlap and Myler kicked a touchline conversion attempt.
It was an impressive response by the home side, but they were then forced into an early change when their Australia international lock Adam Coleman went off injured, being replaced by Barney Maddison.
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And Exeter regained the lead seven minutes before half-time, using their strong ball-carriers to maximum effect, and skipper Dennis touched down, allowing Steenson another easy conversion for a 14-7 advantage.
Exeter pushed for another score as the interval approached, and it arrived after their forwards drove from a line-out and Cowan-Dickie finished off, with Steenson’s third successful conversion leaving Irish reeling.
And there was still time for another try, with Exeter completing a blistering spell when Devoto finished brilliantly for a bonus-point score which Steenson again converted.
Irish were down and out, and Hill scored a fine solo try just two minutes after the restart that took Exeter past 30 points.
The Exiles gave their supporters something to cheer about when Tuisue crossed from close range and Myler converted, yet it remained a tough exercise against a team in impressive form.
Hassell-Collins provided brief hope of an unlikely comeback with a high-class finish for Irish’s third try, but Exeter resumed normal service when Hill made a decisive break and delivered an exquisite pass to Townsend.
Steenson’s conversion made it 42-21, before Exeter were temporarily reduced to 14 men when Woodburn was yellow carded, then Devoto followed him three minutes later for an identical offence.
Mafi’s score gave Irish a fourth try as Exeter played two men short for eight minutes, but a Steenson penalty confirmed a healthy Exeter advantage and preservation of top spot in the league.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments