Thomas pounces to complete Bristol fightback

Rob Baxter, the Exeter Chiefs director of rugby, admitted that the events of the past week might have affected his players as they suffered their first home defeat against Bristol for 10 years.

The Chiefs were left angry and frustrated when it was announced last week that Saracens had breached the salary cap in each of the past three seasons, and were hit with a 35-point deduction and £5.36million fine.

The Devon side have been impacted more than most by the affair, having lost the past two Premiership finals to Saracens.

When asked if that could explain away Exeter’s inexplicably poor second-half showing after they had led 17-0 at the break, with Bristol snatching victory with the last play of the game with a driving maul try by replacement back rower Dan Thomas, Baxter said: “Possibly. We talked about the possible impact during the week because I was concerned.

“There are 11 teams in the Premiership who are going to get a little bit distracted by what has happened, apart from one [Saracens], who are going to come together a bit, and that is perhaps what could have happened to us.

“I wouldn’t like to use that as an excuse though, but if it has distracted us a little bit, we have now got to fight to get it right and, hopefully, we have got it out of our systems today and that will be the end of it.”

It was a game of an amazing 39 turnovers, but Exeter uncharacteristically conceded 24 of them. Bristol went top of the Premiership table with their first win at Sandy Park in 10 years and delighted head coach Pat Lam commented: “I am very proud of the guys, particularly when it wasn’t our best rugby, but probably top shelf regarding attitude, commitment and staying together as a team.

“The message at half-time was to start our game from scratch again, and the only way to get back into it was to build the scoreboard gradually and we did that.”

There was no sign in the first half of what was to come, as the Chiefs produced their best 40 minutes of the season.

Baxter gambled by bringing England trio Henry Slade, Luke Cowandickie and Jack Nowell straight back into the 23 only eight days after their defeat by South Africa in the World Cup final in Yokohama, and it appeared the move would pay off handsomely.

Slade, who was the only one of

‘There are 11 teams in the Premiership who are going to be a bit distracted by what has happened’

the three to start the game, looked in particularly sparkling form, playing a major part in both of Exeter’s tries.

A wonderful sidestep inside Bristol hooker Harry Thacker took the Chiefs close to the Bristol line before England No 8 Sam Simmonds sneaked over from a ruck, while Slade’s delightful midfield pass sent Scotland international Stuart Hogg racing away, with Australian scrum-half Nic White getting the touchdown.

After two Joe Simmonds conversions, and a penalty, the Chiefs were firmly in the driving seat with a 17-point lead. However, assisted by a yellow card for White in the 62nd minute for what was deemed to be a deliberate knock-on inside Bristol’s 22, the visitors cleverly worked their way back into the game.

Callum Sheedy kicked two penalties to reduce the deficit, followed by a fine touchline burst by Luke Morahan, which sent fellow winger Piers O’conor over in the corner and in behind the posts, with Sheedy converting.

Exeter looked well placed to see out the game, but they conceded two penalties in the dying seconds in which Bristol went from one 22 to the other, and Thomas rewarded their efforts with a devastating catch-and-drive touchdown given by television match official Keith Lewis.

The level of Bristol’s celebrations said all you needed to know about how they viewed the victory in this derby game.

Concerned: Rob Baxter is worried about the effect of the Saracens affair on his players

Nobody, not even try-scoring wingers, can shelter from the crackdown on collisions that endanger the head or neck of an opponent. Referees will deal out tough sanctions regardless of the perpetrator’s position. In fairness, both Paolo Odogwu and Aled Brew are among the Premiership’s more combative back-three players. Odogwu won a breakdown turnover for Wasps against former club Sale on Friday night minutes before he received his marching orders. The red card, issued by Tom Foley, arrived after a bizarre incident that looked like a kung-fu kick on Rohan Janse van Rensburg (top). Curiously, Odogwu would have remained on the field – probably not even conceding a penalty – if he had climbed to catch Embrose Papier’s chip with his leg pointing forward the whole time. It was a post-catch straighten, Jono Lance Worcester’s captain starred in grim conditions at the Stoop as the Warriors pulled off an impressive victory against Harlequins, with the 29-year-old Australian (right) kicking four penalties and converting Jamie Shillcock’s match-winning try in a 19-14 triumph.

Decisive moment: Dan Thomas, of Bristol Bears, touches down for the crucial winning try (left) and then celebrates with Nathan Hughes