Chiefs 24 Wasps 3

Exeter Chiefs 24

Wasps 3

Mark Stevens at Sandy Park

The drums in Devon are beating a little louder as Exeter Chiefs moved back into second spot in the Aviva Premiership with an impressive victory over play-off rivals Wasps at Sandy Park.

Unlike some other venues where they feel the need to crank up the atmosphere somewhat artificially, Sandy Park brought it’s own unique crescendo of noise on a decisive day in English rugby’s top flight.

Virtually from start to finish, Rob Baxter’s side dominated proceedings - avenging last month’s European exit at the hands of Wasps - with a powerful and workmanlike display.

Backs Olly Woodburn, Phil Dollman and Jack Nowell all crossed for tries, while the ever-reliable Gareth Steenson edged ever closer to landing the Premiership’s ‘Golden Boot’ with a further nine points on his seasonal tally.

Wasps countered with a first half penalty from Elliot Daly, but that was all they could muster on a tough afternoon for the Midlanders.

With the batteries recharged following their first weekend off since the start of the campaign, the Chiefs came into the contest looking to strike a decisive blow in their hopes of claiming home advantage in the upcoming play-offs.

Ahead of kick-off, Baxter made two changes to his starting XV from that which went down to Gloucester in their last outing. Dave Ewers was added to the pack at the expense of leading try-scorer Thomas Waldrom, while behind Phil Dollman was fit again to return at full-back.

Wasps, meanwhile, were also able to parade a powerful array of talent, many of whom had featured in the epic European Champions Cup quarter-final win over the Chiefs last month.

However, an injury to scrum-half Dan Robson - sustained in his side’s European semi-final loss to Saracens - meant Joe Simpson was the sole change in their starting ranks.

Personnel in place for this third instalment of the season, the opening exchanges offered little more than a brutal exchanges of big hits between the two sides. First it was Wasps to throw their weight around in attack, before the home side roared back with a succession of ferocious raids of their own.

Neither side were willing to give an inch, such was the important of the fixture for both sides. However, as the half ticked by it was the Chiefs who looked the more threatening with ball in hand.

Don Armand made useful ground with a foray down the left flank, but as he offloaded to Ian Whitten, the Ulsterman was unable to gather on the charge and the ball was knocked from his grasp as he looked to break clear.

Undeterred, the Chiefs continued to press forward and they looked to break the deadlock with two five-metre line-out moves. Both times, though, the home charge was abruptly halted by some streetwise antics from Messrs Haskell and Festuccia, allowing them to glean a scrum of their own for their troubles.

The Exeter coaches were quietly rightly furious on the sidelines, but the infringements went unpunished and Wasps were able to survive.

That was until the 27th minute when the Chiefs finally found a way over the line. Using the pack to punch their way deep into enemy territory, clever work down the blindside from the home side saw the ball fed to Woodburn who, still with plenty to do, showed top finishing skills to claim the opening try, converted by skipper Steenson.

Minutes later and Woodburn thought he was over again, but this time his effort was chalked off by referee Matt Carley. Sadly, the clever build up play from Henry Slade and Dollman worked a treat, but as the latter kicked in behind, lock Geoff Parling was standing a mile offside as he collected the punt.

Using the resultant penalty, Wasps duly cut the deficit to four points as Daly thundered over a kick from halfway.

HALF TIME EXETER CHIEFS 7 WASPS 3

It took the Chiefs just three minutes after the resumption to restore their seven-point buffer as powerful work at the first scrum of the half allowed Steenson a shot at goal.

Exeter’s master marksman stepped forward and - as so often is the case - drilled a sublime kick between the posts at the North Terrace.

Two minutes later and Steenson was handed another chance, but this time the Exeter fly-half could not capitalise, pulling his effort from midway inside the Wasps half wide of the right post.

The Chiefs continued to press hard in attack and in a swift counter, which went from left to right in an instance, Nowell looked to capitalise when he was fed the ball in space. Initially he broke clear, before kicking in behind. In a foot race to the line, he raced against Frank Halai only for the ball to run dead.

Wasps threw on fresh muscle in a bid to reignite their charge, but it mattered little as the Chiefs continued to hold the upper hand. With the visitors begin to flag, not surprising given their recent exertions, it was Baxter’s side who added a second try just before the hour mark.

The Exeter eight did the initial donkey work, trucking the ball up through a plethora of phases, after which it was fed to the right to Steenson, then Whitten, whose clever offload released Dollman to do the rest, arching his way through the visiting midfield and under the sticks for the converted score.

Sandy Park duly erupted in a wall of noise from all four corners. The Chiefs, though, were far from finished as they set up a rousing finish.

Pushing forward again, Steenson’s clever kick in behind looked harmless enough, that was until the galloping James Short pursued it at high speed. Wasps replacement Rob Miller appeared to be happy to cover it from a drop-out, but the Exeter winger dived on the loose ball.

The Chiefs were sure Short had scored, the officials were less so, therefore it went to the ‘Man in the Van’ who - after countless viewings, adjudged the touchdown had been simultaneous between Miller and Short.

It was a momentary left off for Wasps, who with eight minutes remaining leaked a third try. Having tried to prosper first off a five-metre scrum, then two drives inside, the Chiefs cleverly worked the ball out the back to Nowell, who with two defenders still to beat, glided over for a third converted try.

Still with a handful of minutes still to play, the Chiefs tried their best to sever the Wasps jugular with a late fourth score. Sadly, their determined efforts proved fruitless, not that it mattered all that much on an afternoon of rich rewards for Devon’s finest.

Chiefs: P Dollman (S Hill 62); J Nowell, H Slade, I Whitten, O Woodburn (J Short 60); G Steenson (capt), W Chudley (D Lewis 65); B Moon (A Hepburn 59), L Cowan-Dickie (J Yeandle 60), H Williams (C Rimmer 73); M Lees (D Welch 68), G Parling; D Ewers (T Waldrom 62), J Salvi, D Armand.

Tries - Woodburn, Dollman, Nowell; Conversions - Steenson (3); Penalty - Steenson

Wasps: C Piutau; C Wade, E Daly, S Piutau (R Miller 51-56, 63), F Halai; J Gopperth (R Jackson 63), J Simpson; M Mullan (T Bristow 73), C Festuccia (A Johnson 55), L Cittadini (P Swainston 73); J Launchbury (W Rowlands 73), B Davies; J Haskell (capt, T Young 55), G Smith, N Hughes. Replacement (not used): C Hampson
Penalty - Daly

Referee: M Carley

Attendance: 12,407