Chiefs finish off amazing year in style
ANYONE who thinks England have not been trying hard enough on this Ashes tour should have been there to see Jimmy Anderson deliver his post-match opinions on the drawn fourth Test.
Easing himself gingerly into a stiff-backed chair just outside the umpires’ rooms in the basement of the MCG, the salt sweat stains were still visible on his skin and the grass stains on his whites were mixed with blood on his right knee.
As he leaned down obligingly to roll up his trouser leg and show the battle scar, it was a toss up which looked the more flexible, him or the chair.
“I should sleep well for the next few days,” he said. “But hopefully I should pull up OK. The Tests are not completely back to back and I’ll do what I can in the next few days, use the physio, try to get my body back. It’s the same for all of us.” That is not strictly true. With nearly 15 times his body weight going through ankles, knees and lower back each time he went through the crease, Anderson bowled 59 overs here on a brutal and unforgiving pitch.
It is a workload he has bettered only twice before in his 14-and-a-half-year and 133-match Test career, when bowling 60 overs against Bangladesh in 2010 and 61 overs against West Indies in 2012.
Both of those were at Lord’s in May though, not Melbourne in 35-degree heat. And both of those came when he was in his third decade, when he was 27 and 29 respectively, not the 35 he is now.
He said: “It just takes so much out of you. The pitches over here
are absolutely rock hard, the foot-holes get so uneven, so it takes it out of your ankles and knees. It’s important to recover.”
For all that Anderson will take it easy between now and Thursday, he will be ready to put everything on the line again in Sydney.
And when it was put to him that some have suggested that after the Ashes were lost in Perth the rest of the tour did not matter, his eyes narrowed.
“Obviously everyone wants to perform in every game and you want to get the hundreds and five-fors in the more important ones but it doesn’t always happen like that,” he said.
“No one was more desperate to score runs in those first three games than Alastair Cook. He worked his backside off to try to do that. But it has not happened for him. The more EXETER director of rugby Rob Baxter did not want to see the back of 2017 after his side finished the year 10 points clear at the top of the table.
And he ordered his players to see in the New Year in the same style that they have dominated the Premiership.
After winning their first title in May, the Chiefs have carried on where they left off and ground down Leicester to claim another bonus-point win.
Henry Slade’s 45-metre run-in broke the back of this game after 64 minutes and Exeter went on to score two more tries to rub in their superiority.
Slade made the most of Jonny May’s error, when the England wing misjudged a kick from Nic White, let it bounce and flapped it in the centre’s direction.
That score put Exeter 20-6 up and proved crucial as they stretched away from second-placed Saracens and the rest of the chasing pack.
Baxter said: “It has been one of those years you don’t want to end. We have not taken the bad experiences too seriously and have not got too carried away with the good ones.
“The thing with sport is, it doesn’t matter how good the past has been, you’ve got to look to the future. That’s why we all come and watch.
“The important thing for us is not to get too focused on what 2018 will bring.
“I hope everyone will go away now and have a few beers and decompress a little bit and enjoy their New Year’s Eve. And then we’ll all have a headache and we’ll get on with things, and make sure Tuesday is a good training day because that ultimately is what will
EXETER LEICESTER
make us successful.” The defeat was Leicester’s sixth on the spin, their worst run since 1965, and they finish the year in ninth place and in urgent need of a win against London Irish on Saturday.
“It takes its toll,” said director of rugby Matt O’Connor. “It certainly speaks volumes for how competitive the league is. We have to pick ourselves up and make sure next week at home we are really good. The history isn’t such an issue. The only thing we can do is work harder.”
Watching England coach Eddie Jones would not have been impressed with the dropped passes, fumbled balls and conceded turnovers from both teams in a blustery first half that ended 6-3 to Exeter.
Leicester spent most of it defending as Exeter, with the wind at their backs, pounded forward without making much impression on the scoreboard.
But the effort had taken too much out of the Leicester forwards and Exeter dominated the second half before cutting loose after Slade’s big break.
Flanker Don Armand, who has not cut it with Jones, was driven over for the champions’ first try after 53 minutes before Slade’s sprint.
Lock Jonny Hill scored in the corner with eight minutes remaining and the Chiefs went on claim the extras in added time when hooker Jack Yeandle piled over.
EXETER – Tries: Cons: Pens: LEICESTER – Pens: