Exeter Chiefs v Sale Sharks

Exeter Chiefs secured a top four berth with an important five-point win against Sale Sharks at Sandy Park.

The home crowd was treated to four scintillating tries and a well-earned Gallagher PREM debut for Finn Worley Brady. The 21-year-old back-rower was introduced to a grand ovation in the 78th minute.

An all-Italian link-up produced Chiefs’ first try after four minutes played. Ross Vintcent broke from the Sale 10-metre line, storming down the five-metre channel with ball in hand. He fed Stephen Varney as the scrum-half was running a support line inside him. Varney scampered over for the try as fellow Azzurri international Andrea Zambonin rushed in to be the first to celebrate with his teammate.

Vintcent was integral in setting up a second try for Chiefs minutes later. Delaying an offload in the Sale 22 for Campbell Ridl to run onto, Vintcent hit his winger with a perfectly weighted ball. Ridl sprinted through the line for the try which Henry Slade quickly converted.

Sale’s first came after 21 minutes when captain Ernst van Rhyn powered his way over having picked up from a ruck inches out from the Chiefs line. The Exeter men had been under a whole team warning following multiple penalties, so reassessed as a squad underneath the posts as Rob du Preez took the conversion.

Olly Woodburn snatched a third for Chiefs on the half-hour mark. Harvey Skinner looked to find Slade with an offload on the edge of the Sale 22 which was tampered with by a Rob du Preez knock down, so play was allowed to continue. Tom Hooper, on his return from injury, put a great ball out to Woodburn on the wing for the veteran to finish in the corner.

With Slade’s conversion, Chiefs saw out the first half 19-7 in the lead of their Manchester-based opposition.

Sale struck first in the second half with a try from Dan du Preez. The younger brother took the ball on alone and unchallenged from close range, set up an easy conversion angle for his elder brother, Rob, to knock over the extra two points.

Paul Brown-Bampoe wrapped up the bonus-point score for Chiefs on 64 minutes played. Skinner and Varney combined on the edge of the 22, the half-backs’ interchange working quickly to release Brown-Bampoe for a run in beneath the sticks. Slade took the conversion.

There was a prolonged stoppage in play 10 minutes later when replacement tighthead prop WillGriff John had to be stretchered off. Upon the return to play, a dominant defensive showing from Chiefs earned them a scrum which in turn gave them the platform to clear their lines.

Skinner nearly had a coast-to-coast intercept try with five minutes to go but the fly-half was brought down by the bootstraps metres out from the line and Sale took a penalty at the resulting breakdown to rob Chiefs of momentum.

With the crowd behind them, Chiefs worked doggedly to hold their defensive line in the closing stages and deny Sale any chance of a losing bonus point.

Chiefs will hope to build on the momentum of this home five-point win as they prepare to travel up to Newcastle Red Bulls next Friday night.