Match Report: Exeter Chiefs 24 – 26 Bath Rugby

Bath Rugby secured a bonus-point win at Sandy Park as Exeter Chiefs pushed them to the very edge in a blockbuster clash in Round 14 of the Gallagher Premiership.

Full match highlights can be watched here.

Bath’s four tries to Exeter’s three saw them just keep hold of a narrow victory after a resurgent Chiefs held them scoreless in a big second half performance.

After a breathless opening few minutes, Henry Slade took charge of calming things down as he opted for a shot at goal with a penalty in the Bath half. A clean strike of the ball got the Chiefs onto the scoreboard.

The home side were reduced in power on 10 minutes played when captain Dafydd Jenkins was shown a yellow card. The Welsh lock was sin-binned for cynical play as Bath looked to score and so a penalty try was awarded as the Exeterman left the field.

Chiefs held strong however and steadily worked their way deep into Bath territory. The initial maul drive was held up, but a penalty advantage came as a result. Greg Fisilau tapped it to himself before Bath could set, popping an offload to Jack Yeandle who crashed over from two metres out for Chiefs’ first try.

Slade’s conversion took Chiefs a penalty ahead just as Jenkins returned to the field.

A man overlap was enough to put Bath on the front-foot shortly following. With no contest in the air, they brought the ball down cleanly and despite a strong attempt to push them into touch, Niall Annett was able to control the ball at the rear to ground the try.

Finn Russell’s conversion attempt pulled wide after a Ben Hammersley chase on the kicker.

Quick and clean handling off a scrum on the halfway secured Bath their second of the day. With Chiefs scrambling to re-set their defence on their own line, Bath took advantage of a three-on-one with Josh Bayliss crossing five metres out from the touchline.

Russell’s conversion was this time successful.

From the restart, Bath took off to score their bonus-point try. Bayliss was crucial again as he made the initial break through the midfield, a canter step enabling him to evade Joe Hawkins’ tackle.

Ben Spencer was brought into the play by his back rower before whipping a spiral pass out to Will Muir on the wing to complete the score. Russell added the extras from the tee.

Half-time: Chiefs 10 – 26 Bath

There was a shot of belief that a comeback could be possible when Chiefs were the first to score in the second half. Hammersley collected a clearance kick from Spencer, carving his way inside. A well-timed offload to Josh Hodge sent the full-back onto a break.

Deliberately missing out teammates, Hodge’s passed to the wing for Paul Brown-Bampoe who broke out the goose step to evade his would-be tacklers and score in the corner. Slade’s conversion cut the deficit by an extra two points.

There was a stampede of changes for both sides just after the 50-minute mark. Will Haydon-Wood quickly made an impact, acting as the go-between for Brown-Bampoe and Slade as they all combined to send the Chiefs winger over for a second try in the very same corner.

Slade’s conversion brough the Chiefs to within two points of Bath.

A long-busting closing run saw the Chiefs come within reach of the Bath line for a few chances, but the West Country rivals were able to repel them at each turn.

A frustrating result for the Exeter men, but an improved performance across the park as they pushed themselves to the edge against the league-leaders who remain top of the table with that performance.

Full-time: Chiefs 24 – 26 Bath

Chiefs: J Hodge; B Hammersley (Haydon-Wood 56’), H Slade, J Hawkins (Rigg 74’), P Brown-Bampoe; H Skinner T Cairns (Armstrong 46’); S Sio (Blose 53’), J Yeandle (Norey 53’), M Street (J Roots 53’), R Tuima, D Jenkins (c), M Moloney (Vermeulen 46’), R Capstick (Vintcent 56’), G Fisilau.

Tries: Yeandle, Brown-Bampoe 2 Conversions: Slade 3 Penalties: Slade

Yellow card: Dafydd Jenkins

Bath: T De Glanville; R McConnochie, M Ojomoh (Schreuder 59’), C Redpath, W Muir (Bailey 49’); F Russell, B Spencer (c); F Van Wyk (Obano 53’), N Annett (Dunn 53’), T Du Toit (Stuart 53’), E Richards (Molony 53’), C Ewels (Hill 53’), J Bayliss, M Reid, A Green (Barbeary 53’).

Tries: Penalty try, Annett, Bayliss, Muir Conversions: Russell 2

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe