Exeter gain Prem Cup revenge with Bath win

Rugby Prem Cup

Bath (7) 14

Hennessey Cons: Linegar (2) Tries: Cowan, Hennessey

Exeter (6) 23

Chiefs of Exeter gained some revenge for last year’s Rugby Prem Cupfinal loss, with victory over Bath, at a wet and windy Recreation Ground.

The first try of the game was scored in the final minutes of the first half, with Bath’s Thompson Cowan smashing through after Austin Emens’ men were reduced to 14 men.

After the break, Exeter struggled to make their possession count, but Dan John scored a try before Louis Hennessey restored Bath’s lead following shoddy Chiefs play.

In a sluggish opening period where neither team seemed to find a rhythm, Henry Slade’s penalty put Exeter ahead.

The Chiefs’ first real chance came when they repeatedly slammed the Bath line before the home side’s defensemen scurried in and won a free kick.

After Exeter had pressed down a 22 drop-out, Exeter were reduced to 14 men, with Rusi Tuima receiving a yellow card for a shoulder charge on Emens.

In the second half, Bath duly capitalized, with Emens bursting through the Exeter line to feed Cowan, who outsprinted the final defenders before sliding under the posts.

As half-time approached, Slade responded with his second penalty of the day, cutting the deficit to one.

The game grew as the second period’s conditions improved, but Exeter still struggled with ball in hand as a Ben Hammersley knock-on made another promising move in the Bath half disappear.

Bath’s well-drilled defense then defeated the Chiefs once more, with a rolling maul from short range being held up despite the additional weight of a number of Exeter backs.

After another scrum close to the Bath line, Harvey Skinner fed John to dive over the far corner as the home side ran out of defenders, and the defense finally was breached.

The scoreline then changed again during the see-saw match, with Bath profiting from Slade’s poor passing.

Hennessey eventually slipped over the line for Bath’s second, and debutant James Linegar was the first to react.

The Chiefs pounced, however, as Bath was under enormous pressure and were only allowed to play 13 after Mikey Summerfield and Scott Kirk received yellow cards.

Rob Baxter, the director of rugby for the Chiefs of Exeter, stated to BBC Radio Devon:

We probably should have won, and we did so in the end, which is pleasing, but we still need to find a way to unleash, according to the statistics.

We are currently playing to the best of our abilities. We have better players, and our forwards don’t experience gain line busting carries, which is just pace on the ball, speed on the ball, and clarity in our actions.

We’ve just got to work as hard as I can to break them in, and it’ll take some time, but we’ve already made a big step forward today.

There was definitely some rustiness there, they said. We have more options, and things are starting to work together. Our scrum appears to be perfectly aligned at the moment; however, at times, our maul appeared to be a bit off. #

“We battled away, made some errors, but it turned out to be a respectable win.”

Johann van Graan, Bath’s rugby director, stated to BBC Radio Bristol: “

“Disappointed that we lost the game, but this team fought until the very end, literally, until the very last play of the game,” he said, “but that’s how it sometimes goes in sports.”

“I thought we took advantage of the opportunities we had,” he said, “especially the wind and the wet ball.” We faced a very heavy pack, which ultimately ultimately outperformed us in the scrum.

Replacements: Timmins, Summerfield, Pearce, Summerfield, A. Griffin, Jeanes, Ridgway, le Roux, C. Griffin, and Pearce.

Summerfield, Kirk, Yellow Card

Hodge, Brown-Bampoe, Hammersley, Slade, John, Skinner, Varney, Blose, Yeandle (C), Tchumbadze, Tuima, Pearson, Roots, Tshiunza, Vintcent, and others.

Dweba, Goodrick-Clarke, Iosefa-Scott, Zambonin, James, Chapman, Coen, and Lilley are their replacements.

Tuima’s Yellow Card