Cardiff Blues pay the penalty as Chiefs pile on the power

CARDIFF Blues suffered their second defeat on the bounce under new coach John Mulvihill when they were overpowered by Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park, writes ANDY HOWELL.

The English Premiership runnersup – they were champions the previous season – were too strong at forward for Europe’s second-tier Challenge Cup winners.

Blues were determined and were dangerous on attack during their final pre-season friendly but they didn’t get their hands on the ball enough in front of a bumper crowd of 9,246.

A sizeable penalty count against them didn’t help either, allowing Exeter territory and possession.

And there couldn’t be any complaints about the result with Chiefs out-scoring the Blues 5-1 in tries.

It was 17-7 in Exeter’s favour at the end of an exciting first half and they ran away with it in the second with three tries in the final 23 minutes.

It means Blues will start their bid for Guinness PRO14 glory against champions Leinster at the Arms Park on Friday, August 31, without a confidence-boosting win in their ledger.

They had taken the lead in the 11th minute with a peach of a try. Centre Garyn Smith and dangerous fullback Matthew Morgan featured before blindside flanker Josh Turnbull kept his feet near a touchline.

And he managed to put centre Steven Shingler over unopposed with a lovely pass for outside-half Jarrod Evans to knock over the conversion from a wide angle.

Exeter were quick to respond, camping in the Blues’ 22 before England back-rower Sam Simmonds was driven over from close-range.

Irishman Gareth Steenson, who has been with the Chiefs for years as they climbed the ranks in England, successfully converted to level matters before putting them in front with a penalty after the Blues went down at a scrum.

And it was Exeter who ended the half on a high with a penalty try, which is nowadays worth seven points, after the Blues infringed at a series of 5m scrums.

Evans reduced the deficit to seven points with a short-range penalty in the 55th minute.

But Exeter moved out of sight with tries from all-action flanker Kvesic, substitute hooker Luke CowanDickie and popular centre Ian Whitten, Steenson converting all three of them.

EXETER: Tries: S Simmonds, pen try, M Kvesic, L Cowan-Dickie, I Whitten; cons: G Steenson (4); pen: Steenson.

BLUES: Try: S Shingler; con: J Evans; pen: Evans.