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The Prem.
Chiefs of Exeter (14) 24
Cons: Slade 3 Pens: Slade 3 Tries: Fisilau, Ridl, Varney
Tigers of Leicester (7) 10
At a sold-out Sandy Park match-up, Exeter defeated Leicester 24-10 to move into second place in the Prem.
Before Campbell Ridl, age 20, scored his first Prem try in stunning fashion to make it 14-0 after 25 minutes, Greg Fisilau opened the scoring for Exeter.
After a third Exeter try was denied by Harvey Skinner, Cameron Henderson went over to score the Tigers.
After Henry Slade’s penalty, the Tigers were 10 minutes into the game before Stephen Varney’s 72nd-minute try made it safe with a man sent down after receiving a yellow card.
In stoppage time, Ridl and Will Goodrick-Clarke both lost the ball as Exeter missed out on a try-scoring bonus point that would have elevated them above the table before Billy Searle scored a late penalty for the Tigers.
After Andrea Zambonin charged down a seventh-minute box kick that caused pressure on their line, the Tigers were unable to stop Fisilau’s powerful run from 15 meters in force three minutes later.
11 minutes later, after Exeter’s dynamic-looking attack had brought them to the line, the lead was almost doubled. However, Tigers held Bachuki Tchumbadze as he attempted to go over.
England under-20 winger Ridl, who has recently made an appearance in recent weeks, displayed all of his dynamism and more as he skidded past Ollie Hassell-Collins and swan-dived under the posts for an unforgettable first-ever Prem Rugby try.
When Skinner chipped in and scored moments later, replays revealed a careless push by Will Rigg on Izaia Perese in the build-up that might have prevented the Tigers center from reaching Skinner.
Slade kicked a 50th-minute penalty to break Leicester’s 10-point lead before Sam Williams tip-tackled the England center, which sent the Tigers’ replacement to the sin bin.
Leicester were reduced to 14 after Williams made his return, and Searle was found to have attempted to stop Skinner as the Exeter fly-half broke for the line.
Although Searle’s teammate, Anthony Woodthorpe, thought Skinner had been knocked down before scoring, the referee decided not to give away a penalty try.
The Tigers thought they had survived the second 14-man spell, but just as Searle was about to return, Fisilau broke through and fed Varney, who scored his second try in as many games.
With four minutes left, Searle converted a penalty for Leicester after Rusi Tuima’s replacement was sin-binned for head-on-head contact with Finn Theobald-Thomas.
As the clock ticked over the 80-minute mark, many fans believed their side had finished the game top of the table, but Ridl first lost control as he went over in the right corner, and Goodrick-Clarke dived in from close range after the ball was dislodged.
Yeandle, Goodrick-Clarke, and J. Thomas, Tuima, James, Chapman, Haydon-Wood, John, and Roots.
Sin bin: Tuima (76)
Leicester: Steward, Radwan, Perese, Kata, Hassell-Collins, Searle, Whiteley, N. Smith, Blamire, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum (c), Moro, Reffell, Cracknell, Perese, Perese, Perese, Perese, Perese, Perese,
class=”ssrcss-xbdn93-ItalicText e5tfeyi2″>Replacements: Bailey, Haffar, Hurd, Hurd, Thompson, Williams, Van Poortvliet, Bailey, and Hamer-Webb.
Sin bin: Williams (51), Searle (62)
related subjects
- Chiefs of Exeter
- Rugby Union
- Tigers of Leicester
