Chiefs 40 Castres 3
Exeter Chiefs 40
Castres Olympique 3
Mark Stevens at Sandy Park
There will be an Exeter exodus at the end of the season, but for now Chiefs supporters can happily enjoy the ride as the old and the new combined yet again to secure success in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Rob Baxter has made no secret of the fact that his double-winning squad of two years’ ago is set to break-up in a few months time, but in the meantime this group is determined to ensure there is at least one last hurrah before things changed.
Against visiting Castres, the Chiefs produced a powerful six-try victory that ensured they will have home advantage when the knock-out stages of the competition resume in April.
It wasn’t the prettiest of performances, but that mattered not for the locals, who rejoiced as their side claimed tries through Henry Slade, Sam Simmonds, Jack Nowell and Christ Tshiunza, as well as two penalty tries, to brush past the floundering Frenchmen, whose sole response was an early penalty for Ben Botica.
To add to their woes, three yellow cards, plus a first half red card for Feibyan-Cornell Tukino, did little to brighten their mood on a dismal day at the office.
With qualification into the last 16 already assured, all that mattered for the Chiefs in their final pool qualifier was to gather the necessary reward needed to ensure home advantage when the competition resumes again in April.
On a cold and crisp January evening, the hosts - who made five changes to their starting line-up from that which faced the Bulls last time out - were looking to pick up from where they left off in the heat of Pretoria seven days earlier.
Castres, winless and pointless from their three European outings to date, arrived in Devon looking not only to avenge their defeat to the Chiefs last month, but also end their Champions Cup campaign with at least a crumb of comfort ahead of their Top 14 returns against Bordeaux-Begles next week.
As expected, the opening exchanges were largely dominated around the forwards, the respective packs tearing into each other like sparring schoolboys looking to claim the playground bragging rights.
It was, however, the visitors who broke the deadlock on seven minutes, former Harlequins fly-half Botica landing a penalty after Irish referee Andrew Brace pulled up Kiwi prop Josh Iosefa-Scott for infringing at a ruck.
The Chiefs looked to response almost immediately, but either a combination of sloppy hands or some clever skullduggery from the Frenchmen at the breakdown continually hampered their cause.
At the other end, Botica saw a second long-range penalty chance float wide of the right post, before the Chiefs finally kicked into life to claim their opening points of the game.
Working the ball right to left from a scrum, a slick Exeter attack sent hooker Jack Innard bursting through the heart of the Castres midfield, as the Cornishman drew in the cover, he shipped a simple offload to Slade, who was able to cruise over for his fourth try in as many home games.
The England international - who saw his red card from the previous week dismissed on appeal - then added the extras to his own score to ensure maximum reward for the Devonians.
It was just what the Chiefs craved and ignited them into another prolonged attack just after. As the hosts threw everything at their rivals, the patience of Brace was being tested as Castres continually infringed just yards from their own line. In the end, it was visiting flanker Baptiste Delaporte who was sent to the naughty step for a ten-minute stint.
Although in prime position, the Chiefs could not make their pressure pay initially, turning over possession and a penalty, allowing Castres the chance to clear their danger. However, the home side were soon back on the offensive, their cause aided when Castres No.8 Feibyan-Cornell Tukino was dismissed for a dangerous hit on James Kenny.
Down two men in the pack, Castres could do little to halt the Chiefs attack that followed, the hosts driving a line-out in field, only for it to be crudely sacked by Castres skipper Mathieu Babillot, who joined his fellow back-row colleagues on the sidelines as Brace awarded a penalty try to add to the visitors’ misery.
HALF TIME: EXETER CHIEFS 14 CASTRES OLYMPIQUE 3
Up against it on all counts, Castres seemingly had little option than to ‘go for it’ on the resumption. They controlled the early exchanges and were unlucky not to close the deficit when they chipped in behind, only for the Chiefs to scramble back through Sam Maunder and Hodge to save the day.
Threat averted, it was then the turn of the Chiefs to kick into life once more, Hodge and Woodburn very much to the fore with their running from deep. It was, however, the former who could - and probably should - have done better when he raced clear with Slade outside of him. Instead of passing to his skipper, the young full-back stepped back inside and sadly into trouble and the chance was lost.
Undeterred, the home side continued to pile forward and having won another penalty, which they kicked to the corner, they used the resultant set-piece to drive No.8 Sam Simmonds over for their third converted try of the night.
Now with a healthy buffer in the bank, the Chiefs set their sights on claiming the all-important bonus point and a higher seeding in the knockout stages. Replacements were added from both benches in a bid to freshen proceedings up, but as the game headed into its final quarter, the meaningful on-field action was at somewhat of a premium.
The Chiefs were guilty of coughing up a series of needless and often soft penalties, allowing Castres not only to pin themselves deep into the Exeter 22 but, more importantly, starve the hosts from their attempts to get that fourth score.
With eight minutes remaining, though, the Chiefs got the job done. Having won a penalty midway inside the Castres half, Slade drilled his kick to within five metres of the Frenchmen’s line. Again, Baxter’s side used the set-piece to propel themselves towards the try-line, only for replacement prop Aurelin Azar to take it down.
Referee Brace, just as he did in the first half, not only dispatched the forward to the cooler, but strode in under the sticks to award a second penalty try.
Game done and dusted, the Chiefs were now in the mood to put on a show in the dying embers. Urged on by a bumper Sandy Park crowd, they did just that as they bagged two late tries to put the gloss on a polished performance.
Nowell - who earlier in the week was a high-profile casualty in Steve Borthwick’s first-ever England squad - reminded the new head coach of his undoubted talents, lapping up a cross-field kick before leg driving his way to the right corner.
Then, with the final play of the game, the Chiefs served up the pick of the bunch, working the ball from left to right, through the hands of Hodge, Woodburn, Joe Simmonds and Harry Williams, whose offload released Tshiunza to gallop his way over for the converted.
Home advantage secured, it’s now a case of waiting to see who visits Devon in April for what should be another mouth-watering European encounter.
Chiefs: J Hodge; J Nowell, H Slade (capt, J Simmonds 75), R O'Loughlin (S Kata 54), O Woodburn; H Skinner, S Maunder (J Maunder 44); J Kenny (S Sio 40), J Innard (D Frost 60), J Iosefa-Scott (H Williams 40); J Kirsten (J Dunne 54), D Jenkins; D Ewers (G Fisilau 75), C Tshiunza, S Simmonds.
Tries - Slade, Penalty (2), S Simmonds, Nowell, Tshiunza; Conversions - Slade (2), Penalty (2), J Simmonds
Castres: J Dumora; A Bouzerand (T Chabouni 26), A Seguret, A Cocagi (L Chilachava 75), T Larregain; B Botica, R Kockott (J Blanc 67); A Tichit (M Tierney 54), G Barlot (B Humbert 54), L Chilachava (A Azar 40); G Maravat (R Pieterse 54), F Vanverberghe (K Korntal 54); M Babillot (capt, T Ben-Nicholas 67), B Delaporte, F Tukino.
Penalty - Botica
Yellow Card: Delaporte, Babillot, Azar
Red Card: Tukino
Referee: A Brace
Attendance: 11,823