Hepher happy as Chiefs seal play-off spot
By Mark Stevens
18/5/21
Ali Hepher praised the way his Exeter Chiefs side ‘stuck to task’ as they secured their place in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs for a sixth successive season with a 31-12 victory away to London Irish.
The defending champions maintained their top two placing with another impressive showing against the Exiles at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Free-scoring No.8 Sam Simmonds led the way for the visitors, scoring a hat-trick of tries, which took him to a record-breaking 19 in the top-flight this season. His treble saw him overtake Christian Wade and Dominic Chapman at the top of the scoring pile.
The thing is, however, he still has three more games in the regular season and you would not bet against him adding further to that tally over the coming weeks.
Alongside the newly-named British & Irish Lion, Tom O’Flaherty and younger brother Joe also added tries to put the seal on a magical night for the Chiefs in the capital.
Irish, it has to be said, played their part in an entertaining contest, watched by a crowd of almost 4,000. They bagged tries through Ben Donnell and Ben Loader, one of which was converted by Paddy Jackson, but it was never enough to dent the Devonians.
Post-game, a happy Hepher was quick to laud the achievements of his players. He said: “Obviously, we’re delighted with the win and to seal that play-off spot. For me, the pleasing thing about tonight was we could have tried to play too much in those greasy conditions, but we stuck to task and we kept doing the things we said we would, right up until that final minute.
“I thought our disciplined approach was fantastic, as was the bonus point as well, we’re well chuffed with our work tonight.”
Having seen Sale Sharks leapfrog them into second spot with their win at Bath last Friday, the Chiefs knew the importance of winning on the road, particularly as the season draws towards a pulsating conclusion.
“It was a hard night to try and string too many attacks together,” explained Hepher. “That said, once we got our chances, we were pretty clinical, especially from short range. Joe Simmonds, I though, picked the space and the mis-matches really well and he got his reward with that try in the first half. That gave us the platform we needed because we knew it would be hard to chase the game in these conditions.”
It was, however, Sam Simmonds who once again stole the headlines for the Chiefs. His 50 Premiership tries in just 66 games was 12 games quicker than previous record holder Wade and was over 20 hours less than Tom Varndell in terms of game minutes.
Quite rightly, Hepher was quick to salute the free-scoring forward. He added: “He’s done phenomenally well. His speed, his fight and his low centre of gravity are fantastic. Look, he’s scored some wonder tries this season, but he also does the hard yards, especially close in. He’ll be the first to give credit to others for their part in helping him score, but equally he has to take the plaudits as well for what he is producing.
“Also, we have to give special mention to Jack Yeandle as well. Tonight was his 200th Premiership and Heineken Cup game for the club, which in itself is a fantastic achievement and one which he richly deserves.”
Now, the Chiefs must turn their attentions to their upcoming clash with Newcastle Falcons on Sunday week. That game will mark the first time since December that supporters have been allowed back into Sandy Park and Hepher says having that match-day buzz is what it’s all about for him and his team.
“It was fantastic to see the fans in here tonight,” he said. “Sport goes hand in hand with fans and we’re disappointed when they are not here. Hopefully, we’ve started the ball rolling now and over time we will get more and more back inside the grounds, because all of us want to be playing in front of supporters. If we can add in making sure the weather stays dry, it will be even better.”