It’s strange how optimism and pessimism are all relative. Look at the Exeter Chiefs, back on the upward trend and challenging for the top 4 after a dip last year, and their young tyro of a fly half Henry Slade, a man many are – quite justifiably – clamoring to have in the international set up. Rob Baxter, his prized asset Slade, and the rest of the tribe at Exeter are the toast of the South Coast, and most of the media, for that matter. Compare that the pantomime villain Richard Cockerill, an underperforming Leicester side, and the much-maligned Freddie Burns, once the darling of English rugby, but now struggling to find any sort of consistency. The atmosphere would suggest two clubs at either end of the table, but the reality is these two are neck and neck in the tightest race for playoff spots in years – and that’s what made this fixture so crucial.
The Chiefs had a
strong wind at their backs in the opening half and Henry Slade looked to take
advantage with an early penalty kick from his own 10m line. His big boot had the distance but flew wide of
the left post, however referee JP Doyle ruled that a Seremaia Bai tackle on
Slade was late and awarded the Chiefs a second penalty, this time 30m out. Now the young Chiefs fly half is a real
talent who usually has a reliable boot, but Slade again shanked his effort
(this one pretty straightforward) wide of the posts, and at this stage of the
season those kicks simply cannot be missed
– especially as Freddie Burns added 3 points just two minutes later after the
Chiefs were penalised at a ruck during Tigers’ first charge into their 22.
The Chiefs attempted to bounce straight back, taking advantage of a pathetic restart defence from Leicester, but they were creamed at the scrum – a regular occurrence, as it would transpire – and, several penalties later, Burns took the chance to double the lead.
An accidental offside against Jamie Gibson gave Slade another penalty from inside his own half, and this time he was on target – but although the Chiefs have been characterised by smart, accurate play this year and that was lacking for once, with even the ultra-reliable Thomas Waldrom chucking errant passes here and there. That said, the pressure and possession continued to build for the visitors and it was all hands to the pump in the Tigers defence as Exeter went through phase after phase, looking for an opening. But the hosts held firm through an incredible 27 phases before Matt Smith, a trademark grizzled-Tigers’ squad player, halted Sam Hill with a superb covering tackle and then recovered to force Ian Whitten into a knock-on.
Tigers then won their obligatory penalty at the scrum to ease the pressure, before Miles Benjamin and Ben Youngs made good ground to force the Chiefs into conceding an offside penalty. Burns made it three kicks from three to restore Leicester's six-point lead, but the good news was tempered by the sight of Benjamin hobbling from the field with, what has been confirmed as a season-ending injury.
However, the Welford Road faithful were on their feet a moment later, after a wonderful Tigers lineout play on halfway was almost rewarded with the first try. The forwards created a gap through which Ben Youngs burst to collect brother Tom's throw, which caught Exeter napping. Ben returned the ball to Tom, who was stopped 5m from the line. I’ll stop now, this is sounding like school rugby review. The Chiefs scrambled back to prevent Tigers from crossing, with strong defence from Phil Dollman, but went offside in front of their posts. Burns landed his kick, the last of the half, to send Tigers in at the break with a 12-3 lead.
The Chiefs had been wasteful in every aspect of the game and things didn’t get any easier after the restart, as a tackle off the ball on Tom Youngs gave Burns another 3 points, with the ex-Gloucester man showing a new reliable streak with a 100% record from the tee, but Exeter did strike back soon after. Waldrom peeled off the back of a 5m scrum and was just about stopped by Burns, but his side kept the ball alive through Dave Ewers before Waldrom rejoined the attack to score next to the posts. Slade, however, plumbed new depths from the tee and slammed his simple conversion against a post as Tigers led 15-8.
The try seemed to stun Leicester into life and a stunning 60m kick to the corner by man-of-the-match Burns had Tigers back in Exeter territory. From there they ramped up the pressure, with Niki Goneva being tackled into touch 1 metre from the line and Dan Cole being held up over it, before they finally broke the resistance through Geoff Parling, who benefitted from quick hands by Ben Youngs and Sebastian De Chaves to crash over in the corner against his new employers. Burns added a touchline conversion to give Tigers a 22-8 lead with 14 minutes remaining.
However, Exeter may be a young side but they are a confident one, and they hit back with a breakaway try four minutes later. Slade – assured in possession but crap off the tee – scampered past Jamie Gibson and stepped inside Mathew Tait to race for the line. Although a superb cover tackle from Tait pulled the fly-half down, a smart offload to Will Chudley saw a try under the sticks and the Chiefs right back into things, after Slade’s conversion, at 22 – 15.
However, captain Dean Mumm conceded a brainless penalty inside his 22 for playing replacement scrum-half Sam Harrison and Burns knocked over the kick to move Tigers 10 points ahead going into the last five minutes. The Chiefs pressed in the closing stages but the Tigers’ held firm in defence – with the only breakthrough coming from , ironically, a scrum infringement, which Slade knocked over for a losing bonus point, which may become key in the final shake up.
The Chiefs attempted to bounce straight back, taking advantage of a pathetic restart defence from Leicester, but they were creamed at the scrum – a regular occurrence, as it would transpire – and, several penalties later, Burns took the chance to double the lead.
An accidental offside against Jamie Gibson gave Slade another penalty from inside his own half, and this time he was on target – but although the Chiefs have been characterised by smart, accurate play this year and that was lacking for once, with even the ultra-reliable Thomas Waldrom chucking errant passes here and there. That said, the pressure and possession continued to build for the visitors and it was all hands to the pump in the Tigers defence as Exeter went through phase after phase, looking for an opening. But the hosts held firm through an incredible 27 phases before Matt Smith, a trademark grizzled-Tigers’ squad player, halted Sam Hill with a superb covering tackle and then recovered to force Ian Whitten into a knock-on.
Tigers then won their obligatory penalty at the scrum to ease the pressure, before Miles Benjamin and Ben Youngs made good ground to force the Chiefs into conceding an offside penalty. Burns made it three kicks from three to restore Leicester's six-point lead, but the good news was tempered by the sight of Benjamin hobbling from the field with, what has been confirmed as a season-ending injury.
However, the Welford Road faithful were on their feet a moment later, after a wonderful Tigers lineout play on halfway was almost rewarded with the first try. The forwards created a gap through which Ben Youngs burst to collect brother Tom's throw, which caught Exeter napping. Ben returned the ball to Tom, who was stopped 5m from the line. I’ll stop now, this is sounding like school rugby review. The Chiefs scrambled back to prevent Tigers from crossing, with strong defence from Phil Dollman, but went offside in front of their posts. Burns landed his kick, the last of the half, to send Tigers in at the break with a 12-3 lead.
The Chiefs had been wasteful in every aspect of the game and things didn’t get any easier after the restart, as a tackle off the ball on Tom Youngs gave Burns another 3 points, with the ex-Gloucester man showing a new reliable streak with a 100% record from the tee, but Exeter did strike back soon after. Waldrom peeled off the back of a 5m scrum and was just about stopped by Burns, but his side kept the ball alive through Dave Ewers before Waldrom rejoined the attack to score next to the posts. Slade, however, plumbed new depths from the tee and slammed his simple conversion against a post as Tigers led 15-8.
The try seemed to stun Leicester into life and a stunning 60m kick to the corner by man-of-the-match Burns had Tigers back in Exeter territory. From there they ramped up the pressure, with Niki Goneva being tackled into touch 1 metre from the line and Dan Cole being held up over it, before they finally broke the resistance through Geoff Parling, who benefitted from quick hands by Ben Youngs and Sebastian De Chaves to crash over in the corner against his new employers. Burns added a touchline conversion to give Tigers a 22-8 lead with 14 minutes remaining.
However, Exeter may be a young side but they are a confident one, and they hit back with a breakaway try four minutes later. Slade – assured in possession but crap off the tee – scampered past Jamie Gibson and stepped inside Mathew Tait to race for the line. Although a superb cover tackle from Tait pulled the fly-half down, a smart offload to Will Chudley saw a try under the sticks and the Chiefs right back into things, after Slade’s conversion, at 22 – 15.
However, captain Dean Mumm conceded a brainless penalty inside his 22 for playing replacement scrum-half Sam Harrison and Burns knocked over the kick to move Tigers 10 points ahead going into the last five minutes. The Chiefs pressed in the closing stages but the Tigers’ held firm in defence – with the only breakthrough coming from , ironically, a scrum infringement, which Slade knocked over for a losing bonus point, which may become key in the final shake up.
We can talk about
missed penalties here and there by Exeter but once again Leicester are somehow
sniffing around the playoff spots despite being pants for most of the
season. And that is never a good sign
for anyone else.
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