Campagnaro stars in Chiefs pre-season win over Dragons
MICHELE Campagnaro displayed his considerable talent as the Premiership champions kicked off their season in style.
The Italian international who has struggled to make his mark at Exeter was a thorn in Dragons’ defence throughout with his ability to create space for others before finishing with a solo try in the final minute.
Exeter forwards coach Rob Hunter said: “Campo looked pretty hot on the ball, he and James Short looked really sharp.
“We are pleased with the two games as plenty of players got a large amount of game time as last season we went into the Premiership a bit undercooked.
“Dragons gave us a real test and they’ve made enormous strides in the last six or seven days.”
After huge defeats at Northampton and Montpellier, Dragons took their tally of points conceded in three pre-season games to 161 but this was a vastly improved performance.
Last season, Scarlets were thrashed at Sandy Park in a similar fixture but Dragons, with lively efforts from Zane Kirchner and Angus O’Brien, competed strongly for 70 minutes before Exeter emphasised their second half superiority.
Dragons new head coach Bernard Jackman explained: “We’ve had a gastro bug in the camp and it was so bad that we were unable to train on Thursday with 14 players absent.
“A lot of our players were still weak so it’s no surprise that we ran out of steam late on.
“Last weekend was chaotic but we were much improved today. I inherited these three friendlies but I’ve asked for the Glasgow fixture next Friday to ensure we go into the PRO14 season properly tested.”
Exeter began strongly to take an early lead when Dragons’ notorious scrum frailties were once again exposed. At a succession of five-metre scrums, the Welsh region regularly infringed before conceding a penalty try.
Dragons responded with their best period of the match to draw level when a pre-planned intricate move saw Jack Dixon and Hallam Amos combine cleverly to send Adam Warren over.
The visitors suffered a
blow when former Ospreys’ prop, Dan Suter, limped off before Chiefs regained the lead when a neat Campagnaro offload created the space for Max Bodilly to give Olly Woodburn the scoring pass.
Dragons remained in contention when Warren raced on to a chip ahead to score his second before the hosts grabbed a 21-14 interval lead when a flowing movement ended with Bodilly crossing in the corner after another delightful off-load from Campagnaro created the opportunity. Within two minutes of the restart, Exeter extended their lead when Sam Simmonds finished off a driving line-out before Dragons showed spirit with two tries in quick succession.
First former Chief, Adam Hughes, sped down the wing before Sarel Pretorius took advantage of some loose defence to collect the bounce and score with his first touch.
That was as close as it got for Dragons as Thomas Waldrom scored his trademark try with Gareth Steenson also marking his introduction with Exeter’s sixth.
A yellow card for Nic Cudd ensured there was to be comeback for the Welsh with late tries from Short,
left, and Campagnaro rewarding Exeter’s second half dominance.