Match action
HARRY RANDALL, the smallest player in the Premiership, guided Bristol to a massive victory and top spot with a giant performance that must surely start to force Eddie Jones’ hand as he considers his Six Nations squad.
Randall, English born and one of the most capped England U20 players in age group history, has a dual qualification from his schooldays with Llandovery so England really need to step in.
They are letting too many potential stars slip through the net and England U20s are getting fed up acting as a development team for others.
The diminutive scrumhalf was everywhere at Sandy Park last night in attack and defence. Typically he signed off in the 74th minute when, having been clobbered while fielding an awkward ball, he jumped up from being treated to make a crucial turnover before hobbling off to the stands.
As for Exeter it was a rare second defeat on the trot and for the second week running they failed to garner a bonus point. No need to panic yet, of course not, but after a flying start to this campaign they are stuttering a little.
The first half hour of an otherwise absorbing game suffered significantly through props Harry Williams and Jake Woolmore constantly incurring the wrath of referee Karl Dickson and the near absence of completed scrums. Things improved instantly when Dickson binned both on 33 minutes after repeated warnings.
Despite the unsatisfactory situation at scrum-time there was some rugby to savour with Randall and Ben Earl driving forces for Bristol, who started the quicker, while Jonny Hill gradually got the Exeter pack firing.
A lightning break from Randall, sprinting away from a tapped penalty, got Bristol on the front foot and they were eventually rewarded for a good period of pressure with a try – possibly his first from a rolling maul – from their lively No.9.
Stephen Luatua gathered expertly at the tail of the line, threw it down to Nathan Hughes at the front and Bristol rumbled away with Randall immediately joining the maul and demanding the ball. With the big units fighting it out above him, Randall squirrelled his way over for a nicely worked try.
Bristol continued to shade it early on and it needed a superb tackle by Joe Simmonds to thwart Piers O’Conor but Exeter’s pack, with Hill demanding more urgency, started to click and take over as halftime approached.
It was a try from Hill that levelled things up although most of the credit goes to the Chiefs backs who, playing advantage, handled crisply from 45 yards out to establish a position on the Bristol line from where the big lock forced his way over.
After the break the game was much more entertaining but both defences were excellent and points remained scarce. Sheedy kicked a simple penalty to ease Bristol ahead before the Bears had to defend, which they did well before firing some shots of their own. It required remarkable covering work from Sam Simmonds to deny that man Randall after one thrilling breakout by Ioan Lloyd.
Bristol stayed patient and moments later, after first laying siege to the Exeter line, suddenly went wide for O’Connor to release Semi Radradra with a pop pass. There was no stopping the big man and Sheedy, having converted the try, put a bonus point beyond Exeter’s reach with a late penalty.