The Premiership is about to go into hibernation for two months and Exeter badly needed a mood-enhancing win before the Six Nations pushes the club game into the background. They duly claimed a relieving victory against weakened opponents but only after a last quarter-surge from 15-10 down in a previously nervy, scrappy contest.
The final scoreboard will show a healthy bonus-point success, clinched by two tries inside three minutes from Tommy Wyatt and Ethan Roots but until that rat-a-tat late burst the result was in real doubt following a second try from the visitors’ speedy right wing Tobias Elliott. A 71st-minute red card shown to Saracens lock Harry Wilson for a shoulder to the head of Rus Tuima, however, effectively sealed their fate and paved the way for a fifth Chiefs try for hooker Dan Frost.
Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, felt his side’s improved second-half display had deserved its reward and hopes it will now prove a stepping-stone to better times. “We clearly wanted to win to give us a feelgood factor that we can take into the Premiership Cup and, hopefully, beyond. We’ve been talking about trying to re-establish our DNA and what it means to be a Chief and I think we started to see that today. There was a relentlessness and it paid off in the end.”
Exeter were all too aware this was an opportunity they could not afford to spurn. Sarries had travelled down without 16 first-team players either injured or away on international duty and the selection of Welsh centre Nick Tompkins as a replacement back-row forward underlined the lack of available alternatives.
It definitely did not help, then, when their Argentina Test star Juan Martín González was sin-binned after just seven minutes when Jacques Vermuelen was tipped out of a ruck upside down and landed on his head. Luckily for González there were several other bodies in the vicinity and referee Ian Tempest settled for just a yellow card.
Exeter swiftly nailed a driven maul try, finished by Jack Innard, but both teams were guilty of unforced errors and lacked consistent cohesion. Saracens needed something to get them going and finally found it after 27 minutes when the rapid Elliott somersaulted over in the right corner to give his side an 8-5 half-time lead.
On their last visit to Devon at the start of last season the visitors lost 65-10 but they were hanging in there doggedly even without a number of their frontline infantry. While it did offer an opportunity for the youthful former Newcastle fly-half Louie Johnson to make his Premiership debut for Sarries along with Max Eke in the back row, it was no surprise that Chiefs enjoyed more possession and territory with Roots and the excellent Wyatt both conspicuous. The Chiefs, who had secured just one league win all season prior to this fixture, were missing just one current England squad member in the shape of their influential back Henry Slade
The loss of Innard with an ankle injury and further inaccuracy did little to reduce Chiefs’ anxiety, however, and it was a massive relief for the hosts when a period of intense pressure in the Sarries 22 finally yielded a try for Will Rigg, who kicked off this season in Coventry’s midfield.
Saracens, though, were not quite finished. Ben Hammersley made a hash of collecting a high kick in his 22 and the alert Elliott pounced for his second try of the night. It was to prove only a temporary inconvenience with Paul Brown-Bampoe tip-toeing down the touchline to tee up Wyatt before Roots crashed over to secure the try bonus almost straight from the restart.
Gloucester moved into the Premiership playoff places after claiming a thrilling 38-31 bonus-point victory over Leicester at Kingsholm. Victory sees the hosts up to third, behind neighbours Bath and Bristol – but rugby director George Skivington is aiming even higher.
Leicester played their part during a game of nine tries, but were undone by a rampant third-quarter performance that saw Gloucester score 21 unanswered points. Santi Carreras collected 18 points, including a try, while there were also touchdowns for scrum-half Tomos Williams, centre Chris Harris, hooker Seb Blake and flanker Jack Clement.
The Tigers, who drop to fourth, were in charge until Gloucester's spectacular recovery, forging a healthy lead through tries from debutant wing Adam Radwan, full-back Mike Brown, centre Izaia Perese and lock Harry Wells, with fly-half Handre Pollard kicking four conversions and a penalty.
But the visitors struggled to cope when Gloucester found another gear, showcasing a box-office attacking game that has become their trademark this season. 'We have got to be real about the challenge, but with the rugby we are putting on the field we are capable of winning the Premiership," said Skivington afterwards.
'At the beginning of the season, I wasn't too focused on where we were going to finish,' Skivington added. 'The most important thing was that we reshaped the way we played. I am obviously pleased we are in the top four, but I think we have still got another level in our game.' PA Media
Eroni Mawi’s late try was scant consolation for Saracens, whose director of rugby, Mark McCall, believes Premiership games should not be scheduled on a pre-Six Nations weekend when all England squad players are unavailable. “It doesn’t feel like a Premiership weekend is necessary when there are international camps and 36 England players away,” said McCall. “It’s only an 18-game season … surely we can spread the games out? If one team has got loads of players away it changes the goalposts.”
It is not a level playing field for Wales and Scotland, either. Dafydd Jenkins, Liam Williams, Tompkins and Fergus Burke will all be on Six Nations duty next Saturday while England’s stars were able to put their feet up this weekend. It is another reason why Welsh fans, whose side have had strictly limited preparation time as a combined squad, will travel over to Paris for this Friday’s opening Six Nations game more in hope than expectation.
