Clinical Chiefs shatter Bath dreams
Joe Simmonds inspired his Exeter Chiefs side to their fifth straight Gallagher Premiership final, teaching Bath a lesson in clinicality at Sandy Park to win 35-6.
The visitors showed glimpses of the form which has seen them emerge from the bunch before the break in the season, to semi-finalists in October, but could not finish their chances when they came.
In the end the two sides who will compete for the 2019/20 Premiership title in two week’s times are the clubs which no one else can stop doing what they excel at best.
Wasps’ stunning backrow turno
Gallagher Premiership
RESULTS, play-off semi-finals: Wasps 47 v Bristol Bears 24, Exeter Chiefs 35 v Bath Rugby 6.
FIXTURE, play-off final, Saturday, October 24: Exeter Chiefs v Wasps, Twickenham, 6pm
P W D
Exeter Chiefs .......................... 22 15 0
Wasps .................................... 22 14 0
Bristol Bears ........................... 22 14 1
Bath Rugby ......................... 22 14 1
Sale Sharks ............................ 22 13 0 Harlequins .............................. 22 10 1 Gloucester Rugby ................... 22 8 0 Northampton Saints ............... 22 8 0 Worcester Warriors .................. 22 8 0
London Irish ........................... 22 6 1 Leicester Tigers ....................... 22 6 1 Saracens ................................ 22 13 1 *Saracens deducted 105 points and relegated
L 7 8 7 7 9 11 14 14 14 15 15 8
F 630 662 561 520 546 517 515 438 398 386 374 583
A 443 497 457 457 375 560 513 547 578 633 609 461
B 14 15 11 9 12 9 14 10 10 8 3 13
Pts 74 71 69 67 64 51 46 42 42 34 29 -38* ver play, inspired by the indomitable Jack Willis, led the Coventry side to a stunning 47-24 victory over Bristol Bears earlier in the afternoon, while Exeter proved for the thousandth time they can not be denied from close range.
When the Chiefs get a sniff of the try line they gobble up the points, which are normally seven thanks to the metronomic kicking of Exeter captain Joe Simmonds.
Twice in the first half, Chiefs patiently built phases and then powered over through lock Jonny Hill and hooker Luke Cowandicke.
Bath displayed arguably their best attacking rugby since the restart but were undone by the fine margins.
Red hot winger Ruaridh Mcconnochie was just pushed into touch going for the corner, Will Stuart had a try scrubbed off for an accidental offside in the build-up as he bumped into Sam Underhill on his way to the line, and Taulupe Faletau made the type of eye catching break which saw Bath spend big to bring him to the club in the first place, but his final pass was picked off by Stuart Hogg who almost went the length of the field.
In the end, despite Chiefs being down to 14 men with Hill yellow carded for a no arms clear out at the ruck just before the break, Bath had just a pair of Rhys Priestland penalties to show for all their first half efforts.
With the hard work done, Exeter added some sparkle in the second half with the outstanding Joe Simmonds creating two tries with his elusive running, the first stepping and offloading for Scotland captain Stuart Hogg to finish in the corner, and the second an offload off the deck for Ollie Devoto following another line-break.
In between the eye-catching scores came a second blast over the line from Hill.
So Chiefs’ chance of a domestic and European double is on with Racing 92 next Saturday in the
Heineken Champions Cup final at Ashton Gate.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O’flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (c), 9 Jack Maunder; 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Luke Cowan-dickie, 3 Harry Williams, 4 Jonny Gray, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 8 Sam Simmonds.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Sam Hidalgoclyne, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Ian Whitten.
Bath Rugby: 15. Anthony Watson, 14. Ruaridh Mcconnochie, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Cameron Redpath, 11. Joe Cokanasiga, 10. Rhys Priestland, 9. Ben Spencer; 1. Beno Obano, 2. Tom Dunn, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Josh Mcnally, 5. Charlie Ewels (C), 6. Tom Ellis, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Taulupe Faletau Replacements: 16. Jack Walker, 17. Lewis Boyce, 18. Christian Judge, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Miles Reid, 21. Will Chudley, 22. Josh Matavesi, 23. Tom de Glanville
Referee: Luke Pearce (103rd Premiership game, second semifinal).
Assistant Referees. Craig Maxwell-keys & Adam Leal. TMO : Wayne Barnes.
Citing Officer: Paul Hull.