WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT?
Last-gasp hero Jason stuns champions Exeter
KIWI Jeremy Thrush gave champs Exeter a reality check with two tries at Kingsholm.
Jason Woodward supplied the killer blow as he went over on 82 minutes to send Gloucester’s fans bonkers.
Exeter fly-half Gareth Steenson got a yellow for a dangerous tackle on newbie full-back Woodward in the 42nd minute and the hosts were 21-14 in front going into the final quarter.
Then it was it was backsto-the-wall stuff for Gloucester as they manned the barricades and took all Exeter could throw at them. But they folded when captain Willi Heinz made a hash of a kick and Olly Woodburn did the rest on 71 minutes.
Henry Slade missed a sitter at the death to put Exeter in the lead and somehow Gloucester hung on for a share of the spoils – then came Woodward.
Gloucester have a new head coach in South African Johan Ackermann and he got a right royal welcome to English rugby just three minutes into the game when Chiefs’ No.8 Sam Simmonds barrelled over after good work from Henry Slade. But Ackermann has clearly instilled a bit of guts in his team who were lacklustre last season.
Simmonds was the bloke who scored the match-winning try for Exeter when they beat Saracens in last year’s Premiership semi-final.
There was a lot more on it that day, but Chiefs were out of the blocks sharpish in their defence of the title.
Gloucester had hardly seen the Exeter half in the first quarter, but once they did get a sniff of the line former All Black Thrush rumbled over the line and amazingly it was all square. But Simmonds got his second when the Gloucester defence hit the snooze button and he rampaged through three tacklers on 29 minutes before Thrush piled over for his second and it was game on.
Simmonds was on the job again when Exeter had Steenson in the bin putting in a try-saving tackle and down to 14 men it was all hands to the pump for the visiting champions.
Exeter survived that bit of pressure mostly down to a turnover from Don Armand just before Steenson returned, but Woodward nicked it.