Bok helps Gloucester stun Exeter at Sandy Park
WRAP: New-look Gloucester got their season off to a cracking start with an emphatic 45-24 bonus-point victory over last season’s beaten Prem finalists Exeter at Sandy Park.
Inspired by impressive summer arrivals Dewi Lake, Jac Morgan and Jean Kleyn, it was Gloucester’s first league win on Devon soil since 2015.
Exeter, ravaged by illness on top of the squad absences they already had, looked out of sorts for large parts of the game and only in the closing stages once the outcome was beyond doubt, did they look more like their usual selves.
Gloucester’s tactical kicking game under new technical director Chris Boyd caused Exeter numerous problems in the opening quarter.
A beautifully judged kick-pass by full-back Ben Redshaw created a try after only five minutes for winger Ben Loader.
Exeter responded with an intense period of pressure which resulted in tight-head prop Josh Iosefa-Scott burrowing over from close range, converted by Henry Slade.
However, more clever kicking from the Cherry and Whites, this time with an excellent chip over the defence by scrum-half Caolan Englefield, served up a touchdown for England centre Seb Atkinson.
Fly-half Charlie Atkinson added a conversion and to another try by Loader, his second of the game, after the former’s excellent crossfield kick found the wide man.
That made it 19-7 and Exeter were struggling to make an impression.
That all changed two minutes before the break when England A back rower Ethan Roots went on a barnstorming run down the left-hand touchline to score after Greg Fisilau’s initial break.
Exeter criminally gave away a soft penalty from the restart, Gloucester kicked to the corner and skipper and hooker Lake popped up with the ball from the driving maul to dot down in the corner for the bonus-point try, with Charlie Atkinson converting superbly from the touchline to give a 14-point lead at the interval.
It took only six minutes of the second half for Welsh international Lake to turn his contribution into a brace.
Gloucester all but wrapped the game up on the hour mark with a brilliant individual score from winger Will Joseph, who ran from halfway, skipping away from tackles to ground the ball under the uprights, with Charlie Atkinson converting.
Exeter hit back with Italian international scrum-half Stephen Varney racing away to cross against his old club and Slade improving the score for a 38-19 deficit.
A Redshaw tackle denied Varney a second try soon after, and even after blindside flanker Freddie Thomas was yellow-carded for an infringement close to his own line, Gloucester’s defence held firm once again.
The Chiefs managed to salvage something with a bonus-point score four minutes from time, with replacement hooker Louie Gulley rounding off a training-ground move on his Prem debut from a five-metre lineout, only for Junior Denny to add a seventh for Gloucester.
Meanwhile, Courtney Lawes’ Sale debut ended in defeat as Bristol ran in five tries to open their Prem Rugby campaign with an entertaining 34-24 win in Salford.
See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!
Exeter 24-45 Gloucester
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: Iosefa-Scott, E Roots, Varney, Gulley
Cons: Slade 2
For Gloucester:
Tries: Loader 2, S Atkinson, Lake 2, Joseph, Denny
Cons: C Atkinson 4, Barton
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Ben Hammersley, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Butt, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Kane James, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Harry Wilson, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Ethan Burger
Replacements: 16 Louie Gulley, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Oscar Beckerleg, 20 Joe Bailey, 21 Jake Murray, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush
Gloucester: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Phil Cokanasiga, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Will Trenholm, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Jack Clement, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Junior Denny, 23 George Barton
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum and Jonathan Healy
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Sale Sharks 24-34 Bristol Bears
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks
Tries: Cowan-Dickie, O’Flaherty 2
Cons: Ford 3
Pen: Ford
For Bristol Bears:
Tries: Rees-Zammit 2, Randall 2, Gwilliam
Cons: Williams 3
Pen: Williams
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Xavier Roe, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Elia Cankaivata
Bristol Bears: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Fitz Harding (c), 7 Luka Ivanishvili, 6 Joe Owen, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Tomas Gwilliam, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jimmy Halliwell, 19 George Taylor, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Max Pepper, 23 Benjamin Grondona
Referee: Sara Cox
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys and Jamie Leahy
TMO: Peter Allan
