Match Reaction - Ali Hepher

By Mark Stevens
24/12/22

It wasn’t pretty, but Exeter Chiefs head coach Ali Hepher did not care as his side recorded a vital 20-15 victory over Bath in Round 13 of the Gallagher Premiership.

First half tries from Dave Ewers and Henry Slade, together with ten points from the boot of Joe Simmonds, proved just about enough for the Chiefs in this hard-fought Westcountry derby.

Bath countered with scores from Joe Cokanasiga and Niall Annett, plus a conversion and penalty from Orlando Bailey, but it was not enough to down the Chiefs, who have now won 12 of their last 13 top-flight meetings against their near neighbours.

“It’s a huge win,” said Hepher at the final whistle. “We said earlier in this week that this was the biggest game of the season so far and that we needed too get our season back on track in the Premiership.

“It wasn’t pretty and there were lots of errors against what was a pretty resilient Bath side, who kept coming at us right until the very end. In the end, we managed to find a way to dig in and get the result right at the end.”

The Chiefs led 20-10 at the break, but it was Bath who controlled both territory and possession for large parts of the second half. The visitors had their hosts under severe pressure at times, but it was a dogged defensive display that kept them at bay.

“Omar [Mouniemne] should be proud of the way the guys got off the line and the way they fought,” added Hepher.“We had no real position or ball in that second half and we weren’t Abel to stamp our attack on the game like we had done in the first half. That said, the guys dug in well. A year ago we probably would have lost that game, so that shows we are making progress.”

A high penalty count for both sides meant the pressure was always on in attack and Hepher acknowledged his players will need to improve that ahead of their New Year’s Eve showdown with Saracens at the StoneX Stadium.

“We’ve got two days off, although I’m not sure the coaches will have too much time off,” continued Hepher. “We’ve said to the guys, go and enjoy your time with your families, recover from this game and then let’s come back in next week and really look to attack next week and get ready for Sarries.

“That will be a totally different proposition to this - and I’ve no doubt they’ll be looking to bounce back from yesterday [against London Irish], so we have to be ready to rise to the challenge.”

The Chiefs will also be hoping that the Christmas break will allow a number of their players to shake off the effects of a a bug which has been lingering around the squad for much of this week.

“We’ve got a lot of coughing and spluttering in that changing room, it’s not the place you want to be right now,” added Hepher. “A few of the boys were out for the count come the end, but full credit to them, they dug in and we managed to get the result we wanted.”