Exeter Chiefs dump Munster out of Challenge Cup with painful pasting

Exeter Chiefs produced a ruthless first-half blitz to blow Munster out of the Challenge Cup and end the Irish province’s European campaign with an emphatic 31–21 defeat at Sandy Park.

Munster were effectively out of the contest by half-time, having conceded 31 unanswered points in a half that veered from concerning to catastrophic, with Exeter striking almost at will through Henry Slade, Will Rigg, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ross Vintcent.

Exeter had set the tone early when Ross Vintcent muscled over on 13 minutes after an Immanuel Feyi-Waboso break down the flank, with Henry Slade converting before, minutes later, intercepting a Munster pass in midfield to scamper home for a try of his own.

Slade added a penalty on 28 minutes before centre Will Rigg powered over to extend the lead. Munster’s misery was complete before the break when Feyi-Waboso finished from a move he started out wide, before cutting inside Munster’s cover defence, beating five defenders before scoring under the posts.

Slade converted to seal a brutal 31–0 half-time lead.

Fixture

Challenge Cup

Exeter Chiefs

31 - 21

Full-time

Munster

All Stats and Data

There was belated relief after the break when Ireland stand-off Jack Crowley crossed and converted his own try on 49 minutes, but it barely scratched the surface of the damage inflicted before the interval.

Tadhg Beirne grabbed another consolation try on 68 minutes, before being shown a yellow card four minutes later,  and Crowley grabbed his second on 75 minutes, but it was all very much too little, too late for the Irish province, who limp out of Europe with little more than a whimper.

EXETER CHIEFS: 15. Olly Woodburn, 14. Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Will Rigg, 11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10. Harvey Skinner, 9. Steve Varney, 1. Scott Sio, 2. Jack Yeandle, 3. Jimmy Roots, 4. Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5. Andrea Zambonin, 6. Tom Hooper, 7. Ross Vintcent, 8. Greg Fisilau
Replacements:

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Joseph Dweba, 17. Ethan Burger, 18. Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19. Rus Tuima, 20. Finn Worley-Brady, 21. Tom Cairns, 22. Will Haydon-Wood, 23. Campbell Ridl

MUNSTER: 15. Ben O’Connor, 14. Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13. Tom Farrell, 12. Alex Nankivell, 11. Thaakir Abrahams, 10. Jack Crowley, 9. Craig Casey, 1. Jeremy Loughman, 2. Lee Barron, 3. John Ryan, 4. Edwin Edogbo, 5. Tadhg Beirne (c), 6. Jack O’Donoghue, 7. Alex Kendellen, 8. Gavin Coombes
Replacements:

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Niall Scannell, 17. Michael Milne, 18. Michael Ala’alatoa, 19. Tom Ahern, 20. Ruadhan Quinn, 21. Ben O’Donovan, 22. Sean O’Brien, 23. John Hodnett