by Exeter Chiefs 21 Bath 15
To win this game at Páirc Ganinimh you not only had to get the better of your opponents but also the elements, with a gust of wind whipping over the South Stand and battering. Exeter eventually did just that, securing victory and a place in the Champions Cup quarter-finals thanks to another extraordinary effort from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
The young England winger was always on the wing and hungry for work, with one of his brutal runs setting up the decisive try for Ethan Roots. Arguably his personal highlight came earlier, kicking deep into Bath and skipping past defenders to make up more ground than he deserved. While you’re wary of overhyping players who have so many starts under their belt, sometimes you know, they’re not.
“He’s the closest we could get to Jack Nowell, a guy who gives you meters out of nowhere. And it’s getting better,” Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, told Feyi-Waboso. “He’s just learning how to use those talents that he has. At least two tries came from the momentum he gained almost on his own, at times when he didn’t deserve momentum. That shows his value.”
Exeter progressing to a fourth European quarter-final in five years looked unlikely at half-time. Bath, playing into the wind in the first half, defended superbly in their own line for much of the opening 40 minutes, winning six turnovers and more than doubling Exeter’s tackle count as they finished the first half with 16 percent territory. . It was a defensive display that Baxter described as “unbelievable”.
On those rare occasions when they entered Exeter’s half, Bath scored. A great break from Ted Hill 40 meters out, claiming Ben Spencer’s box kick and who had the pace to race especially away from Feyi-Waboso everyone, was great. As the first half goes it was up there and the best Bath could have hoped for, with the hard work done, it seems, before playing with the wind at their backs.
The only blow was an unfortunate knock on the restart from Alfie Barbeary which landed perfectly into the path of Ross Vintcent, immediately responding to Bath’s fake attempt from Thomas du Toit. In fairness, Barbeary couldn’t have rolled the ball straighter to equalize for Vintcent, but with the game on the line after the elements Bath looked on top after Ben Spencer’s long-range penalty on 50 minutes it made it 15-7.
Then they lost their way. Of course injuries were crucial. Finn Russell was forced off after 16 minutes with a groin injury with Bath head coach Johann van Graan saying “we’ll take our time with him”. Russell’s replacement, Orlando Bailey, also had to retire with 25 minutes remaining, forcing Bath to finish the game against investigator Ben Spencer at No. 10.
They also seemed to lose some steam after that huge defensive effort from the first half and the bounce of the ball with those wind-backed kicks didn’t go their way, as Exeter forwards and Feyi-Waboso took the Henry Slade takes the lead landing brilliantly. turns into the wind.
Bath continued to produce turnover penalties at the breakdown, leading Exeter in that area until the end. England captain Sam Underhill was superb in that area, a late poaching giving Bath a line of attack only for Christ Tshiunza to strike with a timely steal off the line – not his debut either.
It was fitting that Tshiunza delivered at that moment, part of this young core of Exeter players who led the team into a new era that continues to impress, with Tshiunza joining a pack that included Rus Tuima, Dafydd Jenkins, Roots, Ross Vincent and Greg. Fisilau coming off the bench to score as well. Crucially, Exeter did not let those first-half frustrations get to them, setting up a trip to Toulouse or a home game with Racing 92 next week.
“It would be easy [for the players] that at half-time he thought they had not done enough. But the fact of the matter was we put in a lot of hard work and that was probably the winner of the game for us,” Baxter said of his young team. “I know it’s a little bit strange because you’d think that the most decisive thing in the game was for Bath to get those two scores. But it felt to me that we had so many possessions and that we were working [Bath] so hard that there would be opportunities in the second half.”
It was some effort from Bath, with Van Graan rightly noting that his side would “walk out of the stadium proud”. But in the battle of the gale, Exeter was victorious.
Data matching
Scoring sequence: 0-5 Du Toit try, 5-5 Vintcent try, 7-5 Slade con, 7-10 Hill try, 7-12 Spencer con, 7-15 Spencer pen, 12-15 Fisilau try, 14-15 Slade con, 19-15 Roots try, 21-15 Slade con
Heads of Exeter: J Hodge; I Feyi-Waboso, H Slade, O Devoto (Z Wimbush 77), O Woodburn; H Skinner, T Cairns (S Townsend 57); S Sio (D Southworth 49), J Yeandle (J Innard 67), E Painter (M Street 49), R Tuima (L Pearson 57), D Jenkins, E Roots, C Tshiunza, R Vintcent (G Fisilau 50)
Not used: W Haydon-Wood
Bath: M Gallagher; J Cokanasiga, O Lawrence, C Redpath, W Muir; F Russell (O Bailey 14, L Schreuder 54), B Spencer; B Obano (J Schoeman 62), T Dunn (N Annett 62), T du Toit (W Stuart 62), Q Roux (E Stooke 68), C Ewels, T Hill (M Reid 51), S Underhill, A Barbeary ( J Coetzee 68)
Referee: L Ramos (FRA)
Attendance: 15,000
