Exeter produce second-half fightback to stun Sale and show their dominance again
Sale 22 Exeter 32
Exeter Chiefs underscored their status as the best side in England and, in the process, landed a significant psychological blow against one of their closest rivals for the Gallagher Premiership title with this overwhelming victory over Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium last night.
These two sides may yet provide the line-up for the Premiership final on Oct 24, but the comprehensive manner of Exeter’s four-try win stung Steve Diamond and his side will have no doubt about the gap in quality they need to close.
A second successive defeat has left Diamond’s side with some soulsearching to do in their bid to maintain their top-four challenge, despite a barrelling performance by Manu Tuilagi during the first half on what was his home debut.
“We got executed. We’re out of the race unless we get ourselves together in the next three weeks,” said Diamond. “We couldn’t control them from five metres out. We either sharpen up or we are out of contention. We were beaten by the better team.”
Despite leading 14-7 after 13 minutes, Sale once again found themselves on the back foot because of a punitively-high penalty count and the control of Exeter’s forwards.
Three tries in the second half by Rob Baxter’s side, by Jacques Vermeulen, Stuart Hogg and Luke Cowan-dickie secured victory and left the other top-four contenders wondering just how they are to find a way to stop their relentless march.
“I’m very pleased with the way we grew through the game,” said Baxter. “We had a good start, got a bit scary and timid, and we had to battle and fight our way out of it. The boys dug deep and to come away with a bonus-point win feels good,” he said.
It was Exeter who struck first, with a sumptuous move involving Henry Slade and Alex Cuthburt, before Olly Woodburn sliced through the midfield. With the Exeter defensive line breached, Sam Simmonds ran the support line to finish the score.
Yet Sale responded impressively, with Tuilagi at the heart of their efforts. The former Leicester Tigers centre, who had been a bit-part figure against Harlequins at the Stoop last weekend, was central in providing Sale with the go-forward ball to threaten the Exeter defence.
It was a powerhouse drive by the England centre, after taking a short pass from a maul, that culminated in Sale’s first try by Tom Curry after another strong burst by Jonno Ross.
Rob Du Preez landed the conversion despite the swirling wind, and minutes later Sale were again in the ascendancy thanks to another gainline-busting break by Tuilagi from an attacking line-out.
With the Exeter defence seemingly preoccupied with Tuilagi, his offload created the space for du Preez to scythe through for his side’s second try, a surprising moment of sloppy defending from the league leaders.
The concession did not rattle Exeter, however, and Baxter’s side first dug deep to prevent Sale from scoring a third try that might have taken the game away from them, then hit back with a penalty by Simmonds to reduce the deficit to four points by the interval.
Sale attempted to reassert themselves after the break, however, with Du Preez landing a penalty to again take their lead to a converted score. But the fizz of Sale’s early intent soon evaporated as Exeter enjoyed their most sustained period of pressure to turn the contest on its head.
Exeter’s game is founded on their pack and, once again, their ability to dominate the collisions started to yield rewards and force Sale to expend more and more of their energy on defence.
It would eventually force a defensive lapse that will no doubt have cause great frustration for Diamond.
From a penalty, Vermeulen was able to expose a soft shoulder by Denny Solomona to score in the corner. Simmonds’s conversion levelled the scores and it marked the beginning of the end for Sale.
It was Simmonds’s ability to take the ball to the line without fear that created the opportunity for Exeter to seize control of the contest as, with Tuilagi taken out of the defensive line, Woodburn broke again and this time Hogg finished with a flourish, going over for his third try in as many games.
Simmonds then turned the screw by landing a huge penalty from the halfway line, which, critically, extended Exeter’s lead to eight points on the hour.
Appropriately, the bonus-point try came via the Exeter pack, with hooker Cowan-dickie driving low and hard from a penalty move to leave Sale, once again, having to turn a spotlight on their defensive application.
A late try by Solomona was at least some reward for Sale’s persistence in the final quarter, but this was Exeter’s night.
‘We are out of the race unless we get ourselves together in the next three weeks’
With Spiderwoman flying high, and Supermum planning to relaunch, this may seem more like an alternative Marvel convention than the 44th staging of AIG Women’s Open. Yet perhaps the hero most likely to swoop into the winner’s place here tomorrow is the golfer desperately trying to move on from her moniker as golf ’s Girl Wonder.
At 23, Lydia Ko finally looks ready to prevail again and so lend her remarkable story a thrilling comeback chapter. On one over, the New Zealander is only two off the lead set by Sweden’s Daniel Holmqvist (aka Spiderwoman) with Scotland’s Catriona Matthew (aka Supermum) leading the home challenge, on five over, alongside Wales’s Becky Morgan. Yet with respect to that trio and the rest of a packed leaderboard – featuring American Austin Ernst on level par, Australian Minjee Lee also on one over and world No4 Nelly Korda on two over – it is easy to understand why the bookmakers have Ko as favourite to lift the £515,000 first prize going into the weekend.
And that is despite Ko not having won anything in 2½ years and only once in four years. In short, Ko looks like Ko again and although she wants to leave the past where it is, it is impossible not to hark back to the amazement she provoked as the teenaged prodigy. An LPGA Tour winner by 15 (a record); world No1 by 17 (a record); a major winner by 18 (a record); a multiple major winner before 19 (a record). The garlands stacked up in the form of a pedestal. Alas, Ko then began to topple. In a torrid four years since leaving David Leadbetter – a fallout that became increasingly acrimonious as the English coach pointed to the parents – Ko has employed five instructors. She has settled recently with Sean Foley, Tiger Woods’s former guru.
She has been similarly prolific in caddie appointments and equipment changes. Before lockdown, Ko found herself outside the world’s top 50 for the first time since she was 15. She plainly needed the isolation. “Even though they were circumstances none of us wanted, it was great for me to take a step back and assess where I was at,” she said after a second-round 71 compiled in the Ayrshire wind and rain. “With Sean, we haven’t done a lot in the technical sense. We are trying to get rid of the question marks in my head so I can swing freely. Sean has told me to dig a hole and throw all my c--- in there. A big thing for me has just been able to believe in myself again.”
Ko has long pledged to retire from the sport by 30 and wonders if she will stick to that vow. But now, she believes that decision will not be dependent on what happens in the meantime. “I don’t know where my career is going to go,” she said. “At one point I was comparing myself to when I was world No1, but so many things have happened that I can never be that same person. I just have to be the best I can be right now.” At last Ko appears to be back on track. She has shrugged off blowing a five-shot lead at the Marathon Championship two weeks ago and simply taken the positives in contending once more. This re-acclimatisation promises to serve her well.
“I just need to stay patient this weekend, because although it is not supposed to be as rough, it will still be about keeping it in play,” Ko said.
Matthew will say Amen to that. The 50-year-old, who so memorably won this major in 2009 only 11 weeks after giving birth, found it a struggle in her 76, but knows she is plenty near enough in these volatile circumstances. For her part Holmqvist believes she has what it takes. “I will take these conditions over spider bites any day of the week,” she said after a 70 left her as the only player under par.
Holmqvist, 32, was referring to the famous incident during the Australian Open in 2013, when, after being bitten by a black widow and told the venom could be fatal, she used a teepeg to pierce the wound and squeeze out the poison. She then played the remaining 14 holes. “I don’t know if what I did was cool, smart or stupid, but I’m just glad I’m here,” Holmqvist said. “I also had a nasty cart crash in a tournament in China.”