A new era begins at Exeter. With the clock in the red and the crowd roaring the home side on, the replacement prop Patrick Schickerling crashed over the try-line to snatch a dramatic victory for the Chiefs against the champions Leicester.
Things have changed at Sandy Park; the Native American branding, from the club badge to the stadium bars, is gone, while the director of rugby, Rob Baxter, has stepped back to allow the head coach, Ali Hepher, to lead on match days.
For much of the second half of a contest crammed with tactical kicking, it seemed the Chiefs were destined to squander a winning position. Hepher had said they went “deep and dark” in pre-season and overhauling Steve Borthwick’s streetwise side, despite losing the prop Alec Hepburn to a late yellow card, shows their efforts were not wasted.
Given the early unwillingness of both teams to run the ball it was appropriate that the first try came from a charge down.
Jimmy Gopperth, a summer acquisition from Wasps, was caught out by the Exeter fly-half Harvey Skinner. Skinner perceptively chipped behind the disorganised defence and although Freddie Burns won the race for the ball he blatantly batted it away from Skinner’s grasp. A penalty try and yellow card resulted.
Exeter were the side threatening to attack with superior fluency and although Burns added another penalty, the hosts began to take control. When the wing Olly Woodburn challenged Burns in the air, it set the platform for Solomone Kata, the Exeter inside-centre, to score a debut try with a neat dummy and burst of pace.
Burns failed a half-time head injury assessment, which led to Phil Cokanasinga making his Tigers debut, Gopperth slotting in at No 10. The Exeter full-back Joe Simmonds endured a horrible moment on 48 minutes when he dallied over a Gopperth kick and tried to chip over Dan Cole inside his own 22. The former England prop gratefully grabbed the ball and offloaded to the captain Hanro Liebenberg, who jogged under the posts.
Gopperth’s conversion brought the visitors to within four and Leicester kept tackling and turned the screw. When the hooker Charlie Clare was shoved over for the try that gave them the lead, Borthwick looked suitably thrilled.
Exeter appeared to have grabbed the advantage back immediately. Schickerling burrowed over but the score was ruled out for a knock-on. Exeter came again through the debutant Ruben van Heerden, only for Cole to perform heroically to hold the South African up over the line.
Exeter were pushing, but Hepburn was sent to the sin-bin for a high hit on Richard Wigglesworth.
After the Chiefs kicked a late penalty for the corner, Schickerling’s winning try was a reward for their work.An unsuitably thrilling conclusion, perhaps, to a match characterised by lengthy exchanges of kick-tennis.
“We didn’t get much luck last year, probably because we weren’t working hard enough,” Hepher said. “As a benchmark, that gives us a really good place to go from. We are definitely going to grow from here.”
Genge has happy return to Bristol
The England prop Ellis Genge marked his Bristol homecoming with two tries as the Bears began their Premiership campaign with a 31-29 victory over Bath at Ashton Gate. Bath had looked to be heading towards victory but a late try from Will Capon, converted by AJ MacGinty, proved to be the difference.
The match had been rescheduled from Friday night and no television match official was available. The game was not without controversy, Bath’s unused replacement Niall Annett shown a red card by the referee, Matthew Carley, for joining a touchline mêlée.
Tabai Matson, the Harlequins director of rugby, praised his team’s resolve as they edged out Newcastle 40-31 at Kingston Park. In a game of 11 tries Quins emerged victorious thanks to two late scores from Alex Dombrandt and the replacement Joe Marchant. Matson said: “We were on the ropes at times but we created enough opportunities in the game.” PA Media
Leicester, still without the injured summer signings Handré Pollard and Anthony Watson, will doubtless grow too.
“The players are very disappointed but the way they battled, the way they fought, was a real sign of strength,” said Borthwick after his seeing his side attempt 247 tackles. “Ultimately, we just gave Exeter one too many chances.”
