Vermeulen scores as Exeter outplay Pollard and Leicester
PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: Exeter maintained their superb home form as they defeated Leicester 29-10 in front of a record crowd at Sandy Park.
An attendance of exactly 15,000 witnessed the Chiefs end their 2023 home campaign in style with a bonus-point win as they stretched their unbeaten Sandy Park run in all competitions to 23 matches, spanning a period of 61 weeks.
It took the Tigers a long time to find their way into the game, despite many of their internationals returning to duty.
They trailed 0-24 early in the second half and, when they finally did fight back, they had left themselves too big a mountain to climb.
Chiefs centre Henry Slade had another an excellent game, once more staking his claim for an England recall for the upcoming Six Nations.
Exeter got off to a dream start with a close-range try after only seven minutes from South African flank Jacques Vermeulen following a period of intense pressure on the Tigers line, with Slade converting.
Four minutes later they were awarded a penalty try when George Martin was adjudged to have tackled Rory O’Loughlin early to prevent him taking a try-scoring pass from Tom Wyatt and the lead was suddenly 14-0.
The advantage could have been increased even further if Lewis Pearson had not opted to go for glory himself, with two players outside him.
That passage of play saw Chiefs prop Scott Sio and Tigers scrumhalf Ben Youngs limp off, soon to be joined by Leicester wing Josh Bassett.
Even referee Tom Foley needed some first-half treatment after getting smacked in the ribs when he inadvertently got in the way of a Leicester attacker.
The Chiefs had a try by Jack Yeandle ruled out for a double movement in the 35th minute, but they rammed home their first-half superiority a minute before the break when Slade latched on to a very loose pass from World Cup winner Handre Pollard, who had a first half to forget, and raced 40 metres to score under the posts, leaving the simplest of conversions for a 21-0 interval lead.
Slade put the Chiefs four scores clear 11 minutes into the second half with a penalty as the Tigers collapsed a scrum.
Leicester finally got their first points on the board in the 56th minute when England wing Anthony Watson finished off in the right-hand corner after they had camped on the home line following an initial break by Jasper Wiese. Pollard badly pulled the conversion attempt.
More sustained tryline pressure created a walk-in score for fullback Freddie Steward after former Chiefs centre Solomone Kata’s long pass as Tigers continued their fightback.
However, the conversion was again crucially missed, this time by Jamie Shillcock, leaving them still 14 points adrift.
Exeter were not satisfied with just the win, though, and replacement lock Rusi Tuima forced his way over with the clock in the red to claim the bonus point and provide the perfect finish for the home supporters.
Meanwhile, Bath top the Premiership at Christmas after winning an absorbing battle with fellow title contenders Harlequins 25-17 at the Rec.
England wing Joe Cokanasiga scored twice, with his second try clinching an important bonus point late on.
Other Bath tries went to lock Elliott Stooke and flank Miles Reid, while the Londoners stayed in contention with tries from flyhalf Marcus Smith, hooker Jack Walker and flanker James Chisholm.
In Saturday’s other fixture, Adam Hastings missed a 45-metre angled penalty with the last kick of the match as Gloucester suffered a 29-31 defeat to Northampton at Kingsholm.
Hastings’ failure took Gloucester’s losing run in the league to seven games but it was rough justice on them for they had dominated a one-sided second half.
When the hosts trailed 7-24 after 35 minutes, another loss looked a near certainty but a yellow card for Saints centre Rory Hutchinson saw an instant change in momentum as Gloucester scored 22 unanswered points.
Freddie Clarke, Chris Harris, Matias Alemanno and Santiago Carreras scored their tries with Adam Hastings adding three conversions and a penalty.
Curtis Langdon scored two tries for Northampton, with Alex Mitchell, Alex Coles and Tom Litchfield also on the try-scoring sheet as Fin Smith added three conversions.
See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!
Exeter Chiefs 29-10 Leicester Tigers
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: Vermeulen, Penalty Try, Slade, Tuima
Cons: Slade 2
Pen: Slade
For Leicester:
Tries: Watson, Steward
Yellow card: George Martin (Leicester, 10′ – cynical play, tackling a player early)
Teams:
Exeter: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Rory O’Loughlin, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Lewis Pearson, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Zack Wimbush.
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Dan Kelly, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Emeka Ilione, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Harry Wells, 4 George Martin, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 James Whitcombe.
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobold-Thomas, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Olly Cracknell, 20 Kyle Hatherell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Mike Brown.
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: George Selwood, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose
Gloucester 29-31 Northampton Saints
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Clarke, Harris, Alemanno, Carreras
Cons: Hastings 3
Pen: Hastings
For Northampton:
Tries: Mitchell, Coles, Langdon 2, Litchfield
Cons: Smith 3
Yellow card: Rory Hutchinson (Northampton, 41′)
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Ruan Ackerman, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santi Socino, 1 Harry Elrington.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson. 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Seb Atkinson, 23 Lloyd Evans.
Northampton: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 Tom Litchfield, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Curtis Langdon,1 Ethan Waller.
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Juarno Augustus, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Jake Garside.
Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum, Neil Chivers
TMO: Dean Richards
Bath 25-17 Harlequins
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Cokanasiga 2, Stooke, Reid
Con: Russell
Pen: Russell
For Harlequins:
Tries: Smith, Walker, Chisholm
Con: Smith
Yellow card: Danny Care (Harlequins, 31′)
Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Miles Reid, 6 GJ van Velze, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Cameron Redpath.
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Nick David, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Louis Lynagh, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (captain), 7 James Chisholm, 6 Chandler Cunningham-South, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Irne Herbst, 20 George Hammond, 21 Will Evans, 22 Will Porter, 23 Oscar Beard.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson, Paul Dix
TMO: Stuart Terheege
