Exeter’s second-half show too strong for Glasgow
Exeter buried Glasgow with a stunning 24-point second-half flurry to keep up their perfect start at the top of Pool Two with director of rugby Rob Baxter later admitting that he was delighted with his team’s attrition and patience.
“It’s given us a fantastic foothold in the competition,” he said. “We didn’t get panicky and edgy when it was tight at half-time. We looked like a team that knew how to take control of the game.
“Not many teams buckle early [in the Champions Cup]. These experiences are adding up for us all the time, and these are the things we will benefit from as we keep on growing as a team.
“We said to the guys at half-time, ‘Look, with anything in life you get back what you put in’. We had 40 minutes left and 40 minutes is the blink of an eye in anyone’s life – if you get your head down and work hard, then things will often go your way.”
Much of the pre-match limelight had been attracted by Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg – once a Warrior and now a Chief – but, in hindsight, that seems to have been misplaced. Hogg’s contribution to the game was anticlimactic; he was steady and assured with all that he did but rarely dazzled.
More to the point, there was nothing that Glasgow’s former talismanic fullback could do but watch as Tommy Seymour’s furiously animalistic carry led to Glasgow opening the scoring after some exquisite, delicious touches from Adam Hastings.
The Glasgow full-back pounded into Tom O’Flaherty with locomotive force, sending the Exeter wing careering backwards. Seymour then turned from artisan to artist as he linked up delicately with outside centre Nick Grigg, who shrugged off Henry Slade’s attempted challenge to score under the posts. Glasgow merited nothing less after a purposeful, dynamic opening.
But Exeter rallied as they always do at citadel Sandy Park. Led by Alec Hepburn, the Chiefs opened their afternoon’s account with a Joe Simmonds penalty after referee Pascal Gauzere penalised Glasgow’s Zander Fagerson for collapsing a scrum.
Despite an uncharacteristically inaccurate opening period for Exeter there would be more good news. Fagerson again put Glasgow under pressure with a scrum offence, allowing Joe Simmonds to prod Exeter to within five metres of the Warriors line and Jonny Hill’s closerange thrust put Exeter into the lead for the first time.
There was still time for one final Glasgow burst, however, and Hastings gave Glasgow a three-point half-time lead after Exeter were penalised at the scrum.
As the Exeter sky was overwhelmed by a fiery red hue, the Chiefs’ ardour seemed to ignite. England internationals Jack Nowell and Slade combined minutes into the second half for Exeter’s second try – a deft out-to-in incision from the former, creating space to the latter to score.
The nail in Glasgow’s coffin came moments later. After the Warriors were caught offside on halfway in midfield, Joe Simmonds put Exeter to within 10metres of the Glasgow line. That gave the Chiefs’ maul the perfect platform to run its engine. It did not need to move out of second gear before No 8 Sam Simmonds had flown over the line, almost sprinting following Glasgow’s splintering. His brother converted and for the first time there was true daylight between the two sides.
Cue one-way traffic. Slade and Joe Simmonds became far more prominent and when that happens there are not many teams that can live with them. Glasgow became one of those teams when Slade’s neat grubber followed a swift, glancing a shovel-on from Joe Simmonds, with O’Flaherty first to get to Slade’s hack for the Chiefs’ bonus-point score. Glasgow did manage a consolation sorts following several efforts to blow the Exeter house down, as hooker George Turner got on the end of a sweeping move to score in the corner. For the Chiefs, however, those European home woes have been banished. They can head to December’s double-header knowing they are in pole position. Scores 0-5 Grigg try; 0-7 Hastings con; 3-7 J Simmonds pen; 8-7 J Hill try; 10-7 J Simmonds con; 10-10 Hastings pen; 10-13 Hastings pen; 15-13 Slade try; 17-13 J Simmonds con; 22-13 S Simmonds try; 24-13 J Simmonds con; 29-13 O’Flaherty try; 31-13 J Simmonds con; 34-13 J Simmonds pen; 34-18 Turner try. Exeter S Hogg (S Hill 62); J Nowell, H Slade (G Steenson 69), I Whitten, T O’Flaherty; J Simmonds, N White (J Maunder 68); A Hepburn (B Moon 48), J Yeandle (L Cowan-Dickie 39), H Williams (M Street 65), D Dennis (J Kirsten 63), J Hill, D Ewers, J Vermeulen (D Armand 65), S Simmonds. Sin-bin S Simmonds. Glasgow T Seymour; R Tagive (K Steyn 31), N Grigg, S Johnson, D van der Merwe (P Horne 53); A Hastings, G Horne (A Price 58); O Kebble (A Allan 63), F Brown (G Turner 58), Z Fagerson (D Rae 67), R Harley, S Cummings, R Wilson (K McDonald 67), C Fusaro (T Gordon 63), M Fagerson. Sin-bin McDonald. Referee Pascal Gauzere (France).