Christmas is coming but Exeter have already received their perfect gift. A club record crowd of 15,000 witnessed this dominant bonus-point victory that cements the Chiefs in the top four of the 10-team Gallagher Premiership table at the season’s halfway point and leaves a hapless Leicester down in eighth.
While the Tigers may not have yet consumed their turkey, they already know what a good stuffing looks like. Exeter led 24-0 after 50 minutes and had way too much energy, line speed and skill for the lacklustre visitors, who had won their previous five games in all competitions. The youthful Chiefs, meanwhile, have not lost at home since October 2022 and are growing in confidence by the week.
Even a strong Leicester side boasting nine starting players who featured at this year’s World Cup were no match for opponents who have also seen off Toulon and Munster in dramatic fashion in the Champions Cup this month.
The in-form Henry Slade scored a try and contributed a total of 12 points to claim the man of the match award but the Chiefs pack were also collectively excellent again with the No 8, Greg Fisilau, enjoying another fine game and Rus Tuima scoring his side’s fourth try in the closing moments.
Leicester, in contrast, will have headed home distinctly lacking in seasonal cheer. They had travelled down on Friday but initially resembled a team still mentally on the M5. Scrum pressure gave Chiefs an early opportunity to kick a penalty to the corner and soon enough a gleeful Jacques Vermeulen was over for his side’s first try. The Tigers could also have no complaints about Exeter’s second try, George Martin tackling Rory O’Loughlin off the ball to concede both a penalty try and a yellow card.
While the Chiefs’ dressing room may be full of fresh faces, big reputations do not seem to faze them. Fisilau and the Welsh international lock Dafydd Jenkins are clearly fast-rising talents, with Leicester’s Springbok World Cup winning back-rower Jasper Wiese and several other high-profile clubmates unable to gain any consistent forward momentum.
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Aside from the lineout, where the visitors stole a few balls, the Chiefs were superior in most areas and could have added at least a couple more first-half tries. Lewis Pearson was guilty of hanging on to the ball with two players in promising positions and Jack Yeandle had a try ruled out for a double movement close to the line. On the plus side there was a notable first league start of the season for Ollie Devoto, who has battled his way back into Exeter’s midfield after two hip operations.
To add to Tigers’ woes they lost England’s most capped scrum-half, Ben Youngs, with a leg injury with only half an hour gone and things soon went from bad to worse. Slade, starting to rival Noddy Holder for reliable Christmas impact, was quickest to a loose pass thrown by Pollard and, having scooped it beautifully off the deck, had the pace to spring 40 metres to score between the posts.
Leicester had little other option but to redouble their efforts. They edged the second half 10-8 and did manage to create tries out wide for England Test men Anthony Watson and Freddie Steward but it provided only a brief respite. A final close-range surge ended with Tuima finding a hole in the defensive line in the closing seconds, with Slade’s pulled conversion proving to be his only missed kick all day.
Chiefs, who face Bristol at Ashton Gate on Friday, now sit only four points behind the halfway leaders, Bath, and this was another significant result for a team starting to make a habit of turning over theoretically superior opposition. “The way the guys pitched up mentally was really pleasing,” said their head coach, Ali Hepher. “They’ve had the bit between their teeth all week so we had an inkling a performance was coming.”
Leicester’s director of rugby, Dan McKellar, acknowledged his side had suffered from “a poor start” and would need to improve substantially to bounce back against Bath on New Year’s Eve. “I don’t think it’ll be too hard to turn things around for Bath,” he said. “Rugby’s all about collision and we lost the collisions today in all areas. If you do that you’re not going to beat anyone. We need to make sure we turn up with a different mindset and an intent next Sunday.”
