Season Review So Far - October
By Mark Stevens
12/4/20
Having collected a win and a loss in their opening two games in the Premiership Rugby Cup, Exeter Chiefs started the month of October with another away-day fixture in the competition against Worcester Warriors.
In what was a much-changed line-up from Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, into the side came many of those who had featured in June’s Gallagher Premiership Final against Saracens at Twickenham.
Club captain Jack Yeandle headed up the Chiefs side, which included only Stan South from the previous week’s defeat at Leicester Tigers. However, the powerful array of talent quickly showed they were up to speed as they helped the visitors to a 34-19 success at Sixways.
Olly Woodburn, Jacques Vermeulen, Sean Lonsdale and new-dad Matt Kvesic all touched down with fly-half Joe Simmonds kicking the remainder of Exeter’s points on the night.
Although a little ring-rusty in parts, it was a victory that head coach Ali Hepher was pleased to acknowledge post-game. He said: “Look, the big picture of these four weeks is about peaking for the Premiership, but equally we want to win every competition we are in. We will do everything we can to get that semi-final spot. If we were to get that this early in the season, that would be fantastic for us. If we can get a home semi-final, even better, but I don’t know how it will all work out. You never know what is going to happen with results elsewhere, but right now we’re pleased we have got guys up and running, and that we’ve showed some real fight to win the game.”
With two wins in the bag, the Chiefs were certainly in a good position to claim one of those four semi-final spots. Next up, though, was a derby day encounter at home to local rivals Bristol Bears.
Again, Baxter opted to stick with many of those on duty at Worcester, while the visitors arrived at Sandy Park with a largely youthful side, but did include a sprinkling of international experience in the shape of Dave Attwood, Luke Hamilton and Ian Madigan.
As it proved, the Chiefs were the dominant force from start to finish, wrapping up a 42-19 win thanks to tries from Jonny Hill, Jack Maunder, Sam Simmonds, Harry Williams, Dave Dennis and Marcus Street, the latter claiming his maiden score for the Devonians.
The victory not only ensured a last four spot for the Chiefs, but gave Baxter and his players the perfect boost ahead of their Gallagher Premiership opener against Harlequins the following week.
The Chiefs’ leader, though, was mindful of the threat posed by the Londoners in his latest post-game assessment, stating: “It’s always nice to be winning games of rugby, nice to be keep some flow at home, and nice to keep the supporters feeling positives about things.
“Next week, though, will be a big challenge. Harlequins have had a pretty good run through this competition as well and they have a strong squad. We’ve watched a few of their games now on video, so we know it’s going to be a challenge.
“They have got pace; excitement and they seem to be enjoying what they are doing. Since Paul has been there, the one thing you notice is they feel very comfortable with themselves and that makes any team dangerous. At the same time, we’re a dangerous side and we look comfortable with what we are doing. It’s going to be a nice start to the season for all of us, but I think we will all know more of where we stand come the end of next week.”
Over in Japan, the Chiefs contingent were having mixed fortunes at the Rugby World Cup.
Nic White scored Australia’s opening try in their win over Georgia, Tomas Francis helped Wales to book their place in the last eight with a 29-17 win against Fiji, but there was disappointment for summer signing Stuart Hogg as he and Scotland bowed out of the competition, losing to hosts Japan 28-21 in their final pool game.
England were looking impressive and against Argentina, Chiefs fans had the sight of all three Exeter players (Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade) in action as Eddie Jones’ side won 39-10 to ensure their place in the quarter-finals.
Nowell - making his first appearance on a rugby pitch since the Premiership final - didn’t take long to make his mark, coming off the bench to score a brilliant individual try in the corner. Then, Cowan-Dickie followed suit, putting the gloss on the win with England’s final score.
Sadly, Nowell damaged a hamstring just moments before scoring and although he remained in Japan for the remainder of the tournament, that was all the action the Cornishman would see during his entire stay in the Far East.
Scotland’s early exit, though, meant a swift return to the UK for Hogg, who not long after the defeat to Japan was on the phone to Baxter telling him he wanted to get stuck into Chiefs life at the earliest opportunity.
He was among the Sandy Park crowd as the Devonians kicked off their 10th year in the Premiership with an opening day victory against Harlequins. The boot of fly-half Joe Simmonds did much of the damage on the day, landing five penalties and converting Jonny Hill’’s solitary try as the Chiefs prospered 22-19.
Post-game, Hepher gave his assessment on his side’s showing, saying: “We knew that step up in intensity was coming,” said Hepher. “The important thing, though, was that although we found ourselves in a tricky position at times today, where things weren’t necessarily flowing as well as we would have liked, we found a way to coming through and get those four points, which was crucial.”
Up and running, it was the ideal start to the new campaign for the Chiefs, whose next assignment was the short trek to Bath for a Friday night encounter against Stuart Hooper’s side. As expected, Baxter wasted little time in introducing Hogg, who was handed his maiden start in the wind and rain at the famous Recreation Ground.
The Scotsman said ahead of his debut, “It’s been a hectic week, lots of learning on the job. I know I’m being chucked in at the deep end, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. What I’ve got to make sure of is that I’m up to speed with things as best I can, that I know my stuff, and that I hit the ground running as best I can.”
In what would prove a high affair all night, the two sides were deadlocked at 10-all at the break, Jonny Hill’s converted try cancelled out by one from Bath hooker Tom Dunn on the stroke of half time. Although both sides looked for further reward in the second period, the only points of the half came from Rhys Priestland, who’s second penalty of the game ensured a 13-10 win for the home side.
An annoyed Baxter was less than impressed with his side’s discipline in the aftermath, adding: “I have to be careful a little bit here, because I think it’s always important to give the opposition credit – and I thought Bath worked incredibly hard today and they won the discipline battle.
“But, I’ve kind of just lost my temper with the lads in the changing room because I do feel like as much as Bath pressurised us, which did create some of those penalties, you don’t really create a high tackle. That is just someone carrying the ball as they are supposed to carry it – and if you just give away high tackle penalties, you are just handing momentum over to the opposition in those conditions.
“As I said, great credit to Bath for maintaining their discipline way better than we did. It was a high work-rate game for both packs of forwards, it was always going to be like that, so great credit to both packs. Ultimately, though, I’m a bit frustrated that not only did we do it once or twice, which hurt us, we almost refused to learn the lessons. And when you don’t learn lessons, that’s more annoying than anything else, and that is what I’ve just said to the lads.”
Over in Japan, Chiefs duo Slade and Cowan-Dickie both featured as England overcame the much-fancied All Blacks 19-7 to book their place in the World Cup Final. However, club-mate Francis could not join them as Wales were knocked out by South Africa 19-16.
The defeat was made all the more heartbreaking for prop Francis, who was forced off the field with a serious shoulder injury sustained as he tried to tackle Springboks No.8 Duane Vermuelen. At the time, the severity of the problem was not known, but it would be an injury that would sideline him for many months.