Leicester are hoping Michael Cheika will guide them back to the sunlit uplands and their luck is already beginning to change. With the clock in the red and the visitors down to 14 men after the dismissal of centre Solomone Kata it seemed Exeter had done enough to secure a hard-earned victory only for a last-gasp Tigers’ driving maul to steal a clinching score for the Wales flanker Tommy Reffell.
The former Wallaby head coach was delighted by the resilience his side showed in staying in a contest that had seemed over when Chiefs led 14-3 with 17 minutes left. The Tigers are not remotely the finished article but their lineout and maul kept them in the game and Exeter were made to pay a heavy price for not killing off their opponents when they had the chance.
Approaching the final moments it had seemed almost certain second-half tries from Greg Fisilau and Tom Cairns would extend the Chiefs’ 100% winning record at home on the opening weekend of a Premiership campaign. Instead of playing it safe, however, they unnecessarily threw away possession in their opponents’ half and left themselves wide open to the final sucker punch.
Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, made little effort to disguise his irritation, describing the outcome as “hugely disappointing” and “a slap in the face” and bemoaning his side’s “very odd” game management at numerous key moments.
Cheika, naturally enough, was much happier. “We talked about playing the long game, not being too anxious to get things going early on,” he said. “Sometimes defence can stop you from losing games. That’s what happened today.”
Cheika also paid special tribute to his flanker Olly Cracknell, whose father died earlier in the week, and will now be hoping his side’s spirit in adversity can be replicated on a weekly basis. Nicky Smith put in an extremely useful shift in the front row and Ollie Chessum, floored by a late clash of heads with a teammate, gave a seriously committed display.
Exeter, though, were never quite as precise or clinical as they needed to be and some of their tactical decision-making and execution was way short of ideal. They also had to contend with a clutch of early misfortunes. Centre Ben Hammersley failed a head injury assessment initially picked up by his smart mouthguard, Ethan Roots also required a lengthy check and scrum-half Niall Armstrong lasted 24 minutes before departing with a leg injury.
It should not have mattered. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Joe Hawkins and Ross Vintcent all broke clear in the first half, Scott Sio was held up over the try line and Josh Hodge saw an early penalty rebound off an upright. Even after Izaia Perese was sent to the sin-bin for taking out Cairns following a quick tap, Exeter’s profligacy continued, not least when Feyi-Waboso opted not to give a potential try-scoring inside ball to Olly Woodburn.
A scoreless first 40 minutes appeared inevitable until, with the final kick of the half, Jamie Shillcock slid over a low-flying drop-goal to give Tigers an unexpected lead. At first it seemed to concentrate Chiefs’ minds wonderfully, Feyi-Waboso threatening once more down the right and a final pop pass out of the tackle sent Fisilau over. The alert Cairns then dummied his way over for his side’s second try, again safely converted by Hodge.
Little did anyone guess the real drama was only just starting. Hanro Liebenberg gave the Tigers a glimmer of hope with a 64th minute close-range maul score but, despite the departure of Kata for making contact with the head of Jack Yeandle, the chances of Exeter failing to seal the deal seemed minimal.
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Instead it was the low-slung Reffell and a beaming Cheika who had the last laugh, leaving Baxter to read his players the riot act. “It is hugely disappointing to lose the game the way we did. I said to the players I hoped we were further down the line than to look so callow and inexperienced in the last 20 minutes.
“You are left shaking your head and saying ‘I am not sure what we are doing’. It just seemed like a scenario where we were inviting Leicester to get back in the game and that is exactly what we did. Without doubt that is a game that will go down as one we should have won.”
