Bears give Quins a secondhalf mauling at The Stoop
EXETER Chiefs, understandably rusty in the first half after their recent Covid travails, signed off a momentous year with yet another BP win but there was plenty to also enjoy in an enterprising Gloucester performance.
Academy scrum-half Toby Venner, a noted Sevens speedster, came off the bench to score two cracking tries and generally add vim to the Gloucester attack and joins a lengthy list of young Cherry and Whites players who promise much.
For the present, though, Exeter are the finished article and although a long way from their best yesterday they yet again did enough to win.
A tight looking half-time score line – 7-6 to Chiefs – did no justice whatsoever to an entertaining, freeflowing 40 minutes which generally saw Gloucester in the ascendency.
Lewis Ludlow and his team were determined to take the attack to Exeter which is surely the only approach. If you let the Chiefs dominate and dictate the tempo it’s simply a matter of how big their winning margin will be.
Unfortunately for Glos they could not convert all the first-half pressure which was down to the Chiefs’ excellent scramble defence and their ability to win vital turnover ball with Luke Cowan-Dickie, as usual, leading the effort on that front.
The closest Glos got to a try was a couple of minutes
before half-time when Jonny May anticipated and gathered a nicely placed grubber from Lloyd Evans only to fling an unsympathetic inside pass to the unmarked Charlie Chapman who would have been in under the posts.
As it was they had to be content with two well struck penalties by Evans either side of a first Premiership try from Jonny
Gray for the Chiefs, who made their one period of sustained pressure in the Gloucester line count with a converted try.
It was a different Exeter who came out after the break, though, and they quickly took control in the third quarter. Ollie Devoto powered onto a nicely delayed pass from Joe Simmonds and then trymachine No.8 Sam Simmonds rumbled over from a lineout for a trademark score.
A big Exeter win seemed likely but the arrival of Venner, nominally Gloucester’s fifth choice No.9 at present, galvanised his team with a brilliant touchline break getting Glos on the front foot again.
A sustained period of Glos pressure was rewarded when Val RapavaRuskin, who had enjoyed a fine game, found the electric Venner for an excellent score.
Chiefs then secured their bonus point with another try from Sam Simmonds – his eighth in four Premiership games this season – before Venner had the last word with a second welltaken try.
With the wind in Venner’s sails, Ollie Thorley looking hungry off the bench and with thoughts of last week’s dramatic late win over Ulster still in their minds, Gloucester went looking for an unlikely win.
It wasn’t to be and ultimatley they departed empty handed with Evans, who otherwise enjoyed another encouraging game, missing a last-minute penalty that would at least have secured the losing BP they deserved.