Chiefs 38 Irish 11

Exeter Chiefs 38

London Irish 11

Mark Stevens at Sandy Park

Jack Nowell marked his return to the Exeter Chiefs side by scoring two tries in his side’s 38-11 Aviva Premiership win over London Irish.

The England international grabbed a try in each half as Rob Baxter’s side ran in six tries in a dominant display at Sandy Park.

Skipper Gareth Steenson (pictured below) started the try-fest and also added four conversions, before he was joined on the scoresheet by Don Armand, Luke Cowan-Dickie, James Short and the impressive Nowell.

In reply, Scottish international Blair Cowan claimed a consolation try for the Exiles, who also added two penalties from fly-half Chris Noakes.

However, that was scant reward on a disappointing day for the Londoners, who remain winless after two rounds of the campaign.

Having come unstuck 19-17 at Bath the week previous, Baxter saw little reason to tinker too much with his line-up from that which took to the field at The Rec. However, the changes he did make - three in all - saw him welcome back World Cup stars Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Tomas Francis with summer signing Geoff Parling named among the replacements for the first time.

Irish, who also crashed on the opening weekend at home to Leicester Tigers, also made changes with Tom Smallbone, and Fijian international Aseli Tikoirotuma all coming into their starting XV.

From the outset, though, it was the hosts who offered the greater attacking threat and they were afforded their first chance on two minutes, but Steenson was unable to land the lengthy penalty chance, drifting his kick wide of the left post.

However, the Irishman’s wait for points was not a lengthy one as ten minutes later, he was on hand to claim the game’s opening try, racing round two defenders after his pack of forwards had done the donkey work with a series of drives off a line-out to the corner.

At the other end, Noakes briefly countered with a successful penalty for the Exiles, but it was a momentary respite as back roared the Devonians with a second try midway through the half.

Again, it was the juggernaut Exeter pack who did the damage, punching their way to within sight of the line with a series of pick-and-go moves, before the ball was eventually fed to flanker Armand, who did the rest with the close-range finish.

Steenson this time made no mistake with the extras and he was on hand to convert Exeter’s third try, another well-drilled raid from the home pack enabled Cowan-Dickie to be driven over.

Initially referee Andrew Small was unsure of the grounding from the young Cornishman, but a quick review to the TV match official confirmed what many inside Sandy Park had already celebrated just moments earlier.

The Chiefs continued to push forward in pursuit of further reward as the half ticked by, but a series of soft penalties stymied their advances and allowed their rivals to not only clear their lines, but again reduce the arrears with a second Noakes penalty just four minutes before the break.

On the resumption, the Chiefs were quickly into their stride as they took just two minutes to accrue the all-important bonus point. Ian Whitten and Nowell set the tone with a clever counter down the right, then when the ball was worked back across the field at pace, there was full-back Phil Dollman to feed Short for the score in the corner. Steenson duly obliged with a majestic kick from the touchline to extend the home lead to 20 points.

Irish needed a response of sorts and a flurry of penalties did allow them to momentarily set up camp deep inside the Chiefs 22. However, their attack offered little punch and as the home side soaked up the pressure, they stung their rivals with the perfect counter-attack.

Noakes tried to chip over the top to find the onrushing Topsy Ojo, but Nowell plucked the ball from the night air, before racing clear of the cover. Although centre Tom Fowlie did his best to hunt down the England star, the young Chief still had enough in the tank to fend off his rival and cross in the corner.

Well adrift, Irish looked to salvage something from a tough night in the Westcountry and their efforts were rewarded just before the hour when determined work from the visiting eight saw them shunt their rivals back, allowing former Cornish Pirates forward Cowan to score the unconverted try.

A string of changes were then introduced by both benches as the game entered into the final quarter, including a first outing for Parling in an Exeter jersey, but it proved a short-lived debut for the British Lions lock who was forced from the field inside five minutes with a leg injury.

In attack, the Chiefs continued to push forward, again using their pack as the battering ram, but whereas in the first half they were rewarded with a try from a succession of pick-and-go moves close in, this time Irish did just enough to hold their rivals at bay.

At the other end, Fowlie was denied a try in the left corner by a great cover tackle from Nowell, whilst minutes later Tikorotuma’s clever offload was unlucky not to find a team-mate just inches from the home line.

It was the Chiefs, though, who would have the final word - courtesy of Nowell - as he happily lapped up a poor chip kick from Shane Geraghty to race in unopposed for a second try, converted by Steenson, with just two minutes remaining.

It was in the end, just reward from a dominant display by Baxter’s side. However, you do feel there is still more to come from this group, starting with next week’s long away-day at Newcastle Falcons.

Chiefs: P Dollman; J Nowell, H Slade, I Whitten, J Short (O Woodburn 63); G Steenson (capt), W Chudley (D Lewis 53); B Moon (S Hill 75), L Cowan-Dickie (J Yeandle 59), T Francis (M Low 56); M Lees (G Parling 56, A Hepburn 61), D Welch; D Ewers, D Armand, T Waldrom (J Salvi 14-27, 53).

Tries - Steenson, Armand, Cowan-Dickie, Short, Nowell (2); Conversions - Steenson (4)

Irish: T Ojo; A Lewington (S Maitland 56), T Fowlie, E Griffin, A Tikoirotuma; C Noakes (S Geraghty 61), B McKibbin (S Steele 59); T Smallbone (T Court 59), D Paice (G Ellis 61), H Aulika (L Halavatau 56); G Skivington (capt), M Symons; J Sinclair, L Narraway (B Cowan h/t), R McCusker (E Sheriff 53).

Try - Cowan; Penalties - Noakes (2)

Referee: A Small

Attendance: 7,130