Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester Rugby

Exeter Chiefs once more scored eight tries to take a five-point win in the PREM Rugby Cup, this time over Gloucester Rugby at Sandy Park.

Match captain Ethan Roots led the charge in the round eight match as, for the second consecutive week, youngster Campbell Ridl scored a hattrick of tries.

The crowd immediately got into the game when after four minutes Josh Hodge recovered a Gloucester miss-pass and took off downfield. The full-back was brought down by a toe-tap on the 22 but managed an offload to Paul Brown-Bampoe. The winger was also stopped just shy of the line, but Chiefs recycled ball and Harvey Skinner spotted a chip to the wing option for Campbell Ridl to run in the try. Having set up the try, Skinner added the conversion.

As time ticked into the second quarter, Max Knight claimed a try for the visitors. Carving through the Chiefs 22 in chase of the bounce of the ball, he dotted down beneath the posts. Full-back George Barton converted to bring the two sides level on the scoreboard.

Gloucester took the lead when the large figure of second row Matias Alemanno charged down an attempted box kick from Charlie Chapman, regathered the ball and scoring. Barton’s conversion took the score to 7-14.

The half of action wasn’t done, however and Chiefs quickly worked their way downfield. Zack Wimbush took a pop pass in front of the posts and burst through the Gloucester line from close-range to score. Skinner’s conversion levelled the score and introduced half-time.

Chiefs registered their third try within minutes of the restart. Working with possession in the Gloucester 22, the pack put in some punishing carries before loosehead Will Goodrick-Clarke powered over from a metre out to score the try.

There was a throwback to their EURFC days for Ollie Batson and Ridl when the two youngsters linked up to put Ridl through for his second try. Just four minutes later, Ridl had his third. Fending off a defender in the five-metre channel after an initial rampaging carry from Roots set the platform, the winger completed his second hattrick in as many games.

Not content with being the catalyst for a try, Roots soon got one of his own. Claiming the ball on the edge, he ran in unchallenged from 10-metres out.

It looked as though the floodgates had opened with that score as within a minute and a half, Chiefs added two new tries to their tally. Wimbush carried from his own 10-metre line to fly in underneath the posts to the delight of the home crowd, before Brown-Bampoe pulled a classy finish out of the bag in the corner.

After a stoppage of play for medical attention to Gloucester replacement Will Butler, the game restarted and Chiefs doggedly defended their lead to ensure the cherry and whites didn’t add a point before the full-time whistle.

With the five-point home win, Chiefs finish Valentine’s Day at the top of the Pool A table knowing that, while Gloucester and Bath Rugby have a game in hand, another strong result next weekend at home could be key to securing a play-off berth.