EXETER CHIEFS 26 DONCASTER KNIGHTS 8
Second placed Doncaster Knights travelled to third place Exeter Chiefs with Director of Rugby Lynn Howells keeping faith with the same side that had comprehensively beaten Rotherham Titans the previous week. However, on the bench, fit again Scott Gray replaced Ollie Cook and Tom Luke came in for Wes Davies.
Torrential overnight rain and a strong westerly wind had made conditions very slippery and Exeter opted for first choice of the elements which blew diagonally across the pitch. However it was Doncaster who had the best of the early exchanges taking the game well into the Exeter 22 and they went ahead after only 3 minutes when Mark Woodrow kicked a simple penalty when the home side centres were penalised for being offside in front of their own posts. Doncaster continued to pressurise the home defence but they could not increase their lead. With 12 minutes gone a superb diagonal kick by Chief’s fly half Danny Gray gained his side a lineout close to the Knight’s line. Exeter drove the lineout close but the defence held strong. Exeter were awarded a scrum 5 metres out and they mauled their way down the blindside where, following two consecutive rucks, No 8 Richard Baxter drove over in the corner for the game’s opening try. The next ten minutes were played out in midfield as the conditions took a hold of the game but it was the Chiefs who were starting to come to terms with the wind by playing simple rugby. With 22 minutes gone, Exeter won a lineout 35 metres out and their Samoan centre Junior Fatialofa burst through the Doncaster midfield defence before passing to winger Jason Luff who scored between the posts to give Gray a simple conversion. Doncaster made things difficult for themselves and, in quick succession, they were penalised for delaying the put-in to two unsteady scrums and at a lineout. Then with Doncaster seeking to prevent Exeter extending their score with the conditions, prop Ngalu Ta’u was harshly yellow carded for an alleged high tackle on scrum half Stuart-Smith as he slipped when stepping inside the big Tongan. With the game into injury time the Chiefs put the 14 man Knight’s team under intense pressure but their defence just managed to hold out.
Ta’u returned to the fray early in the second half and it was the Knight’s turn to put the pressure on. Unfortunately their inability to retain their own lineout ball in the windy conditions, a problem they had throughout the game and epitimised by losing two 5 metre attacking lineouts in as many minutes, cost them dear. From one such mistake an Exeter interception almost put them in the clear but the Knights’ defence just held out. With 52 minutes gone Knight’s skipper Glen Wilson was replaced by Scott Gray with Chris Planchant moving from flanker to No 8 then a couple of minutes later Toma Toke replaced Simon Bunting at prop. As the match entered the last quarter, Exeter gained a lineout near the Doncaster try line and after a rolling maul that last for a couple of minutes they eventually scored in the corner through replacement flanker Alan Miller which Gray converted with a beautiful kick across the wind. At this point Cerith Rees replaced Woodrow at fly half for the Knights but it was the Chiefs who almost scored again. From yet another poor Doncaster lineout inside the Exeter 22, the home side made an interception and it took a superb chase to catch Chief’s fullback Sean Marsden as he raced towards the try line. Both sides started to make a number of tactical changes as the game went into the last ten minutes and, when the Chiefs gained another lineout close to the Knights’ line after the referee and touch judge had missed a blatant knock on by Exeter, they again won clean ball before driving the visitors’ pack over their own goal line for the bonus point try by hooker Sam Blythe which Gray again goaled with a good kick. After awarding the try, referee Fox yellow carded Doncaster’s Planchant and Exeter’s Stevenson for fighting. From the kick off, Knights’ flanker Simon Grainger charged down Gray’s clearance and the loose ball was picked up by Scott Gray who fed Doncaster’s hooker Steve Boden for a consolation try for his side. In spite of strenuous efforts by both sides the last five minutes was a stalemate as defences held firm and the referee’s final whistle ended a game which the home side deservedly won by playing the conditions far better than the Knights.
After the game Lynn Howells said that he could not fault his team’s efforts but said that, on the day, they were beaten by a better pack. He said that their inability to control their own set piece had cost them dear and they made too many mistakes when their chances came their way which is something they could not afford to do against the better sides.
Next Saturday the second half of the season starts with Coventry visiting Castle Park (2.00pm).
Exeter Chiefs: S Marsden; J. Luff; M Fatialofa; A. Fatialofa (T Yapp 77); J Drauniniu; D. Gray (Kelly 77); C. Stuart-Smith; S Kingsland (Sturgess 75); S Blythe (S Jenkins 77); J Andress (C Dunlea 69); L Stevenson (C Bentley 69);; J. Hanks T Johnson; A Miller (A Miller 45):R Baxter
Doncaster Knights: A Carter; P Bailey: B Hunt: S Davey:D Van Vuuren (T Luke 69); M Woodrow (C Rees 63); B Jones (D Storey 75); S Bunting (T Toke 56); S Boden (T Davies 77); N Ta’u (R List 69); B Griffiths; G Kenworthy; C Planchant; S Grainger; G Wilson (S. Gray 52)
Referee: M Fox (RFU)
Att: 4001 |
