STU SOOTHES ALI’S NERVES
HEAD coach Ali Hepher admitted his Chiefs had a fit of the jitters before finally putting Bristol away. The hosts dominated possession for the first hour but were only 12-3 in front when calamity struck as Joe Simmonds gifted Henry Purdy an interception score.
The Bears hadn’t had a look-in but were suddenly in with a shout before Stuart Hogg’s 74th-minute try that capped a man-of-the-match display by the Scot.
But Hepher insisted the game should have been dead and buried long before the full-back settled it.
He said: “I think the players got nervous.we had plenty of opportunities, especially at the end of the first half and start of the second, and we tightened up a little bit and made a few errors.we have been getting the opportunities, we haven’t necessarily been converting them.
“We have got to be clinical and that’s all part of the process of building your confidence and level of performance through the season.”
A bit of magic from Jack Nowell made Exeter’s first try. He came in off his wing to take Joe Simmonds’ pass and his grubber kick was picked up by Hogg.
The full-back offloaded and Tom O’flaherty did the rest. Nowell has lost 10kg in a year and looked back to his sharpest since he last played for England in 2019.
Hepher added: “Jack has been incredible for us and I dare say people will be looking at him.
“Hopefully, he goes back in the international set-up because that’s where he deserves to be.”
Sheedy pulled back three points for the Bears but lock Jonny Hill, who is off to Sale at the end of the season, made it 12-3 on 30 minutes with a try straight out of the Exeter playbook.
But the Chiefs could not deliver the killer blow and when Purdy sprinted in from halfway all bets were off.
Then Simmonds’ long pass found Hogg and it was game over.
Bristol boss Pat Lam said: “We are not far away.we didn’t get a chance to fire too much at the start and at 12-3 down it is about staying in the fight.we did a good job to get a bonus point.”