Steenson seals Premiership triumph for the Chiefs
DUNGANNON-BORN Gareth Steenson admitted saying a prayer to his late father before nervelessly booting the winning penalty as Exeter won the English Premiership final in extratime.
Out-half Steenson is one of three survivors from the Chiefs’ promotion to the top flight in 2010 and he settled this clash with Wasps courtesy of his kick 90 seconds from the end.
Steenson admitted he would have found it hard to believe days like this were in his future when his father died during his stint with the Cornish Pirates a decade ago.
‘I said a prayer to my old man upstairs before the last kick, and it worked,’ said Steenson, the 33-year-old who was an Ireland underage international and played for his hometown club before moving to England in 2006.
‘When we first got promoted, I probably couldn’t have expected anything like this.
‘We were patting ourselves on the back in pre-season. We rolled into the season. We did sit down after the Clermont game and said this season could peter out; we had a few harsh words.
‘I was in a different place at Cornish Pirates, I’d just lost my father. Exeter’s vision, you could see it, and that’s why I joined. It was a place that was going to go forward.”
The Chiefs ground home in extra time thanks to Steenson’s dead-eye goalkicking, and earlier tries from Jack Nowell and Phil Dollman.
Jimmy Gopperth and Elliot Daly bagged tries as Wasps refused to relent amid Exeter’s far-superior tight game.
Wasps eventually buckled however, with Exeter forcing one too many scrum penalties – leaving Steenson to step up and seal the victory.
Exeter’s rugby director Rob Baxter wiped away the tears before saying his side were the best in England.
‘I’m not going to shy away from saying we’re the best team in the Premiership. Everyone’s got massive respect for Saracens but if you take the league alone, ourselves and Wasps topped the competition,’ he said. ‘But as great as today is if it’s a downward spiral from here I’ll have failed.’