Irish U18s 21 Chiefs U18s 24

By Mark Stevens
18/1/17

Gwyn Parks landed a late penalty to ensure Exeter Chiefs Under-18s made it two wins from two in this season’s Academy League with a 24-21 victory away to London Irish.

The fly-half was on hand to cap a thrilling fightback from Rob Gibson’s side, who had earlier trailed 21-0 inside 12 minutes at Hazelwood.

Somewhat shell-shocked by a vibrant opening from the Exiles, the Chiefs finally found their feet midway through the half and then went on to dominate for the remainder of the contest.

Hooker Ben Phillips scored two of their three tries, the first coming from a driving maul and the second from a close-range pick-and-go, while No.8 Rusi Tuima added their third try, bulldozing his way over the line after picking up from a scrum five metres out.

Parks converted all three tries, as well as adding the all-important penalty late on.

Post-match, head coach Gibson praised the fighting spirit of his side, as well as the character shown in battling back from what was a disastrous start.

“What impressed me most about the weekend was that the boys didn’t panic,” said Gibson. “After the start they had they could easily have gone into their shells and given up, but instead they fixed the problems themselves.

“From a coaching perspective that’s fantastic as it’s not something you can coach, it comes from the players themselves and is a good indicator of what they can achieve.”

Gibson added: “Once they had addressed one or two areas, I thought the boys played some great rugby and did a lot of the basics very well. By the second half, we were playing in the right areas, controlling possession and winning the territory battle, which is what you need to do in any game.”

Among those to catch the eye for the visitors were Parks and Tuima, as well as forwards Marcus Street and Richard Capstick.

The Chiefs are back in action this Saturday when they play host to Gloucester at Sandy Park (2:30pm).

Chiefs: T Naduva; J Penprase, C Gilbert, J Elderkin, AJ Cant; G Parks, S Maunder, J Kenny, B Phillips, M Street; J Parker Cooke, L Pearson; H Culverhouse, R Capstick, T Clare. Replacements: W Ridout, D Southworth, A Petch, R Tuima, W Gibson, J Snow, O Gibbon, T Williams.