Match action
MATT Jess believes his Exeter side can once again get the better of Wasps by clinching the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series Final at the Ricoh Arena after winning the second leg of the competition in front of their home crowd.
Exeter pipped a Wasps side packed with experience 26-19 in the final game of the afternoon at Sandy Park to win Group B and progress to the final in a fortnight’s time as top seeds.
Impressive skipper Sam Simmonds was the match winner for Chiefs, scoring a second half try-double to overturn a 14-12 half-time deficit – but favourites Wasps also progressed as runners-up after wins over Bristol and Bath.
Exeter, who had beaten both of their West Country rivals to secure a perfect trio of victories, also scored a win over Wasps in the Aviva Premiership semifinals last year.
And veteran wing Jess said: “We managed to win the plate last year so hopefully we can go one better this time and win the whole tournament.
“We know we have all the support from the lads that aren’t playing too – Henry Slade and Jack Nowell were in the crowd – they are all behind you.
“To get silverware to start the season is massive as it really sets the stall out for the rest of the season.
"We have Wasps at the start of the Premiership, too, so we want to be firing against them now.”
Exeter opened up the afternoon in sensational style with a 36-5 win over Bristol, Nick Mason and Max Bodilly both scoring twice, but Wasps matched their six tries against Bath as Frank Halai starred in a 36-21 win.
Two tries for Wasps’ captain Josh Bassett then helped them past Bristol before skipper Simmonds bagged his first double of the afternoon in another big triumph for Exeter over Bath.
Bristol won their dead rubber against Bath 33-12 to take third spot, but all eyes were on who would win the deciding finale.
And after finishing the job, 32year-old Jess admits the Chiefs grew into the format as the day wore on.
“All three games were really tough, but we got good starts and managed to bang a couple of tries on the scoresheet nice and early,” he added.
“With the Bath game we were going for our kick-offs a lot more, and we managed to stay on the attack a lot more.
“The tough one really was that final Wasps game and it was just a case of who was going to break first.
“We managed to get Simmo on the outside and get that crucial try, so it was an outstanding day.
“We needed to try and stay controlled in each game and you could see that we grew as the competition wore on out there.
“That first game we probably hit the breakdown a bit too much, a bit like XVs, and actually when we stayed away from it we found that we could build a score like we did against Bath.
“We didn’t have to defend against them really until the second half and that kind of performance is what we want to take into the finals.”
RESULTS Exeter 36 - 5 Bristol Wasps 36 - 21 Bath Wasps 22 - 14 Bristol Exeter 33 - 5 Bath Bristol 33 - 12 Bath Exeter 26 - 19 Wasps