Exeter go second in Prem after beating Leicester

The Prem

Exeter Chiefs (14) 24

Tries: Fisilau, Ridl, Varney Cons: Slade 3 Pens: Slade

Leicester Tigers (7) 10

Exeter returned to second place in the Prem as they beat Leicester 24-10 at a sold-out Sandy Park.

Greg Fisilau gave Exeter an early lead before 20-year-old winger Campbell Ridl scored his first Prem try in spectacular fashion to help make it 14-0 after 25 minutes.

Harvey Skinner had a third Exeter try disallowed, and moments later Cameron Henderson went over to put Tigers on the scoreboard.

Henry Slade’s penalty extended the lead 10 minutes after the break before Stephen Varney’s 72nd-minute try made the game safe with Tigers a man down after a yellow card.

Billy Searle scored a late penalty for Tigers, before Ridl and Will Goodrick-Clarke both lost the ball going over the line in stoppage-time as Exeter missed out on a try-scoring bonus point that would have sent them top of the table.

Tigers survived an early scare after Andrea Zambonin charged down a seventh-minute box kick that led to pressure on their line, but they could not stop the powerful run of Fisilau three minutes later as he went in through the Tigers line from 15 metres.

The lead was almost doubled 11 minutes later, but Tigers held up Bachuki Tchumbadze as he tried to go over after Exeter’s dynamic-looking attack had got them to the line.

And soon after, England under-20 winger Ridl, who has burst onto the scene in recent weeks, showed all his dynamism and more as he chipped the ball over his marker before regathering, skipping past Ollie Hassell-Collins and swan-diving under the posts for an unforgettable first-ever Prem Rugby try.

It could have been 21-0 moments later when Skinner chipped over and scored, however replays showed a needless push by Will Rigg on Izaia Perese in the build-up that could have stopped the Tigers centre having a chance of reaching Skinner.

Having weathered early Leicester pressure, Slade kicked a 50th-minute penalty to open up a 10-point gap before the England centre was tip-tackled by Sam Williams, which saw the Tigers replacement sent to the sin bin.

No sooner had Williams returned to the field Leicester were reduced to 14 again – this time Searle was judged to have gone in from the side as he tried to stop Skinner as the Exeter fly-half broke for the line.

Although referee Anthony Woodthorpe felt Skinner had been brought down by one of Searle’s team-mates before he could score, so did not award a penalty try.

Tigers thought they had again weathered the second 14-man spell, but just as Searle was about to return Fisilau broke through and fed Varney as the Italy scrum-half scored his second try in as many games.

Leicester scored their first points of the half with four minutes left as Searle converted a penalty after replacement Rusi Tuima was sin-binned for head-on-head contact with Finn Theobald-Thomas.

Much of Sandy Park thought their side had gone top of the table as the clock ticked over the 80-minute mark but Ridl first lost control as he went over in the right corner, while after a couple of penalties Goodrick-Clarke dived in from close range only to have the ball dislodged.

Exeter: Woodburn; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Rigg, Ridl; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Dweba, Tchumbadze, Jenkins (c), Zambonin, Hooper, E. Roots, Fisilau.

Replacements: Yeandle, Goodrick-Clarke, J. Roots, Tuima, James, Chapman, Haydon-Wood, John.

Sin bin: Tuima (76)

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Perese, Kata, Hassell-Collins; Searle, Whiteley; N. Smith, Blamire, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum (c), Moro, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Theobald-Thomas, Haffar, Hurd, Thompson, Williams, Van Poortvliet, Bailey, Hamer-Webb.

Sin bin: Williams (51), Searle (62)