We’re hungry for that title again says Hepher
EXETER ruthlessly exposed the gulf in class between top and bottom of the Premiership as they walloped Worcester at Sixways.
Apart from a brief spell early in the second half, it was men against boys as the champions moved back to the top of the table on Friday night with Warriors remaining pointless after conceding 100 points in their opening three games.
Exeter’s head coach Ali Hepher said: “We cherished that game of rugby and we put our all into it and took nothing for granted.
“We haven’t dipped in our attitude since winning the Premiership as we are hungry for another title. Wasps next Sunday at Sandy Park will be a hell of a battle against a quality side.”
On the strength of this Exeter display, Wasps will have to be at their very best if they are to avenge last season’s Premiership defeat for Chiefs will have the considerable advantage of two days extra rest with Wasps playing Harlequins today.
Exeter’s director of rugby Rob Baxter had promised a hugely energetic performance from Chiefs and it certainly proved to be the case as they came out firing, threatening to blow the hosts away with the speed of their play, best illustrated by the performance of Sam Simmonds.
With great power and excellent ball-handling skills, the highly promising No.8 is a huge talent and was rewarded with two tries to bring his tally to four in three games.
Hepher said: “He has superb pace and playing in Sevens, he is like a back. He is a big package and one hell of a prospect.”
Simmonds was not alone in impressing with powerful bursts from Jonny Hill and Dave Dennis keeping Worcester firmly on the back foot.
Gareth Steenson benefitted from his pack’s control with a masterly display to be rewarded with 16 points from some faultless goalkicking. Henry Slade was also back to his best with Olly Woodburn and Jack Nowell causing havoc in the Warriors’ defence with their incisive running.
This was in stark contrast to Worcester, who could take little from being so hopelessly outgunned. Their scrum held up strongly with Biyi Alo also shining in the loose and their defence was spirited but the plusses ended there.
Worcester’s No.8, GJ van Velze said: “We made a lot of mistake and they punished us at every opportunity.”
A Steenson penalty gave Exeter the lead before Warriors suffered an early blow, when for the second time in a week, Tom Heathcote was injured.
His replacement, Sam Olver, brought Worcester level with a penalty before the visitors’ dominance was rewarded with three tries before the interval.
Olver’s careless knock-on gave Chiefs a platform from which Simmonds drove over for the first before flowing movements resulted in tries for Nowell and Hill.
Three conversions from Steenson made it 24-3 at halftime and a huge defeat looked likely but Worcester began the second half with a bang and were rewarded when Alo crashed over.
Normal service was then resumed, Lachie Turner should have finished off a superb break from Stuart Townsend but knocked on with the line at his mercy.
It mattered little as tries from Woodburn and Simmonds in the final quarter emphasised Exeter’s superiority.