Sale 6 Chiefs 10
Sale Sharks 6
Exeter Chiefs 10
Mark Stevens at the AJ Bell Stadium
Don’t expect this to be top of the pile in terms of the highlights reel, but Exeter Chiefs secured a vital, hard-fought away win to send them back to the top of the Aviva Premiership.
Just how long Rob Baxter’s side remain in pole position will be decided come the end of the weekend, but for now the defending champions are once more proving their credentials.
Five days after winning in the sunshine of the South of France, now the Chiefs were claiming equally precious reward on a cold and crisp night in the North West.
Lachie Turner’s converted second half try, plus a penalty from Gareth Steenson on his 200th league appearance for the club, proved sufficient enough for the Chiefs to claim their fifth league win in seven starts.
Faf De Klerk kicked a penalty in each half for the Sharks, who gleaned a crucial bonus point on the night, but the night belonged to Devon’s finest, who will now ready themselves for yet another new start, this time in the Anglo-Welsh Cup against Northampton Saints next Saturday.
Returning to domestic action after back-to-back wins in the European Champions Cup against Glasgow Warriors and Montpellier, Baxter made five changes in personnel to that which had started the game the week previous.
Up front Carl Rimmer and Harry Williams were brought into the front-row, Ollie Atkins got the nod in the engine room, while Sam Simmonds - who was called into the England squad for the first time this week - was added to the back row.Behind, James Short was the sole change in the back division, coming in on the left wing.
The Sharks, meanwhile, also made a handful of changes following their French fortnight, where they drew with Toulouse, before losing at Lyon in the Challenge Cup.Into the home pack came a new-look back-row of Tom Curry, Josh Strauss and skipper Jono Ross, while behind Will Addison came in at full-back and former Chiefs player Byron McGuigan was recalled on the left wing.
With personnel in place, the early skirmishes appeared bright enough with both sides looking to attack with ball in hand. Defences were tested at every opportunity with some hard-running, but there would be no way through on either side as bodies were sent packing at a rate of knots.
It was, however, the Sharks who offered the game’s first real opening. A high up-and-under was misjudged by Exeter full-back Phil Dollman and in a comedy of errors that followed, the ball cannoned off the shin of Short and in behind the Chiefs try-line. It allowed the Sharks a perfect attacking platform five metres out, but the Devonians formed as one to produce a powerful scrum, shunting their rivals back, before winning turnover possession.
The game continued to ebb back and forth as the two teams looked to secure decent territory with long kicks of defence, but the on-field action was largely uneventful and the first quarter elapsed with the scoreboard untouched.
Baxter’s side, however, were starting to click into gear and when England prop Williams charged down the left flank with ball in hand, it finally gave the champions decent front foot ball from which to set up camp in the Sale 22.Simmonds continued the charge, quickly followed by skipper Jack Yeandle, but the move was nullified well by the Sharks and the chance came and went in the blink of an eye.
Minutes later and the Chiefs threatened again, this time through Ian Whitten, who latched onto a pass from compatriot Steenson and barged his way deep down field. Again, he was felled deep in the home 22, but the follow-up saw Nic White chip in behind looking for Short, but De Klerk was across to cover the danger.
The slug-fest - particularly up front - continued as the minutes ticked by, but it was the Chiefs who finally broke the deadlock, edging in front on 30 minutes when Steenson slotted a routine penalty after homer centre Mark Jennings had been pulled up for blocking Dollman in midfield.
Exeter’s lead lasted just five minutes as the Sharks levelled things up with a penalty of their own, De Klerk landing a 30-metre kick after the Chiefs had been pinged at scrum time by referee Craig Maxwell-Keys.
Two minutes later and De Klerk was afforded another opportunity, but this time the South African’s kick from distance fell short of the target and the Chiefs were able to clear down field. Indeed, with thelast play of a largely uneventful first period, Henry Slade suffered a similar fate when his penalty chance fell short on the left-hand side.
HALF TIME SALE SHARKS 3 EXETER CHIEFS 3
Having had the chance to regroup during the break, the Chiefs opened the second period in fine fettle. Clearly, Baxter and his coaches had delivered a strong message to their troops and they wasted little time in asserting their authority.
Whereas the carries first half had been dealt with manfully by the Sharks, suddenly the Chiefs were getting over the gain line and with it creating hot ball for White to work with.
Early inroads allowed the Chiefs to position themselves deep behind enemy lines, the fruits of which saw the ball fed out to Atkins. The towering Aussie drove hard into the Sale midfield, before Turner followed up in hot pursuit. Still with plenty to do, the former Wallaby international picked a maze through the ruck before racing his way under the posts for the opening try, which was duly converted by Steenson.
It was the perfect start for the visitors, who now had the bit between their teeth. Moments later and they threatened again, putting together a 20-phase attack that had the Sharks scrambling in defence. However, as they looked to pounce again, Slade’s intended pass right failed to find the man outside him.
As the ball spun loose, James O’Connor hacked down field, sparking a decent foot race between Messrs McGuigan, Steenson and Dollman who, thankfully for the Chiefs, was able to get back just in the nick of time and cover the threat.
For Sale, it was the perfect let-off and they made the most of it, regrouping themselves to hit back at the Chiefs. As they built pressure, so it was the turn of the Chiefs to dig deep into their reserves. Initially, they did well to repel the home charge, but when Curry did well at a breakdown in centre field, it allowed De Klerk to step forward and land a second successful penalty to cut the lead to just four points.
The score ignited the home crowd, who now had genuine belief that there side could claim the scalp of the champions. The Chiefs, to their credit, had other ideas and as the game minutes ticked by, so the visitors looked to clamp the game down with a clever, tactical, kick game.
Sale, as the Chiefs know from past experience, are a tough not to crack and refusing to lie down, they threw caution to the wind in the dying stages. As the attacks intensified, so Exeter had to stand firm. However, when the dangerous Solomona cut in off the right flank with just four minutes remaining, it created panic within the visiting ranks and led to replacement Stuart Townsend being sin-binned for a professional foul.
The young scrum-half departed stage right, leaving his team-mates to then defend a line-out just five metres from their own line. As expected, Sale duly threw the kitchen sink at their rivals. Slade twice put in two huge hits, before the Chiefs were given the reprieve they craved when replacement Marc Jones went off his feet just yards from the Exeter line.
His indiscretion allowed the Chiefs to clear their lines to halfway, after which they manfully closed out the game with aplomb. It wasn’t pretty, but Baxter and his team didn’t care one bit. Having had just a day of training to prepare for their trek to the North West, this was the perfect outcome to a brutal first nine-game block of the season.
Sharks: W Addison; D Solomona, S James, M Jennings (M Haley 46), B McGuigan; J O’Connor, F de Klerk; R Harrison (J Flynn 69), R Webber (M Jones 58), G John (H Aulika 69); B Evans, A Ostrikov; J Ross (capt, C Nield 58), T Curry (TJ Ioane 58), J Strauss (G Nott 72). Replacement (not used): W Cliff.
Penalties - De Klerk (2)
Chiefs: P Dollman; L Turner, H Slade, I Whitten, J Short; G Steenson, N White (S Townsend 58); C Rimmer (A Hepburn 58), J Yeandle (capt), E Taione 72, H Williams (T Francis 64); M Lees (J Hill 58), O Atkins (S Skinner 67); D Armand, S Simmonds, T Waldrom (S Skinner 21-26). Replacements (not used): T Hendrickson, T O’Flaherty.
Try - Turner; Conversion - Steenson; Penalty - Steenson
Yellow Card: Townsend
Referee: C Maxwell-Keys
Attendance: 6,490