ROAD TO NOWHERE
Draw no use to Warriors but Chiefs make sure they are not left in a jam
FOR all that a fairly brutal traffic jam had threatened to grind them to a halt, the Exeter Chiefs’ roadshow rumbles on into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup.
The Exeter team bus was caught up in the travel chaos around Glasgow yesterday as an independence march brought some areas of the city to a standstill.
The English Premiership leaders arrived late at Scotstoun, but had enough fuel left in the tank to secure top spot as winners of Pool Two.
It was Glasgow who had gone through the gears at lightning speed in the early stages, racing into the lead after just 60 seconds courtesy of Tommy Seymour.
Indeed, against arguably the best defence in Europe at the moment, they breached the Exeter line three times in the first half.
But Warriors are now on the road to nowhere. Despite playing their part in an enthralling contest full of thrills and spills, they are now reliant on results elsewhere.
They need a bonus-point win next week at Sale Sharks — along with several favours from elsewhere — to even have a sniff of progressing to the knockout stages.
It was a classic as these teams shared eight tries in a ding-dong battle, though one which Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter could see the funny side of.
‘We were disrupted in our travel and ended up turning up late at the stadium,’ he said. ‘The weather wasn’t great. Everything felt like it was a challenge for us, but the boys showed great character.
‘There was a march on in the city centre and we were staying in the city centre. We turned one way and then the other, but all the roads seemed to be shut.
‘At one stage, we ended up going through a couple of housing estates. We wondered whether we were ever going to come out. But we did and we got the job done.’
Warriors’ discipline left a lot to be desired. They played 20 minutes of the match with just 14 men after Callum Gibbins and Fraser Brown were sin-binned, with Exeter punishing them on each occasion.
On his return to Glasgow, Stuart Hogg almost snatched victory at the death with an outrageous penalty attempt from inside his own half, although defeat would have been harsh on the home side.
In the end, Exeter were ruthless where Glasgow were not. From five metres out, there is surely no other team in Europe as brutally clinical as the Chiefs.
Three of their four tries yesterday came from their beefy, snarling forwards. On this evidence, and despite not being quite at their best, they’ll take some stopping in Europe this season.
The conditions overnight and early yesterday morning were horrendous. The howling wind and biblical rain would have had the Exeter pack licking their chops.
It looked like the game would be tailor-made for them. Mercifully, the worst of the weather had passed by kick-off — and it was Glasgow who made a storming start.
Inside the opening 60 seconds,
Seymour dinked a clever kick over the top and collected it on the other side to race away and score.
Hogg was trying to get round on the cover, but he couldn’t stop his former team-mate from sending Scotstoun into raptures, with Adam Hastings nailing the conversion.
Exeter fly-half Joe Simmonds replied with a penalty shortly after — before Glasgow scored a second try inside the opening 10 minutes.
The forwards put in the hard yards, securing quick ball which allowed them to work it wide through the hands of Hastings, Sam Johnson and Huw Jones.
It was Jones who had the presence of mind and intelligence to straighten up and burst through a gap in Exeter’s defence.
Even at such an early juncture, Glasgow were halfway to the bonus point, with Hastings again adding the extras.
Exeter’s rush defence and line speed was beginning to cause problems for Glasgow — and it produced the first try for the English side on 13 minutes.
Johnson was the guilty party for Glasgow, throwing a really ropey pass in midfield which was pounced upon by Nic White.
The Wallabies scrum-half snaffled up the loose ball as it bobbled along the turf, before running from 60 metres out to score. The conversion from Simmonds was good.
A Hastings penalty then put Glasgow 17-10 ahead — but a yellow card to Warriors skipper Gibbins proved to be a huge turning point.
In the 24th minute, Gibbins’ elbow connected with the head of Exeter flanker Jacques Vermeulen. Referee Romain Poite was lenient in the sense that the colour of the card could easily have been red.
Exeter were ruthless in the way they punished the hosts. Through some raw pick-and-go power, No8 Matt Kvesic’s bald head popped up at the bottom of a pile of bodies to score from close range.
Simmonds’ conversion tied things up at 17-17, with the Chiefs then taking the lead on 36 minutes thanks to another try forged in the fires of their forward pack.
There is a sense of inevitability about them. Any time they get within five metres, they score. And so it was when Vermeulen went over after a huge carry from lock Jannes Kirsten in the build-up, with Simmonds converting.
But Glasgow roared back on the cusp of half-time. After a great break from Hastings, George Horne scrambled in under the posts.
Hastings added the extras and things were locked at 24 points apiece as Poite blew for half-time.
Jones then almost got Glasgow’s fourth try on 45 minutes. He pounced on a loose pass and gave chase to the ball after kicking it upfield, only to agonisingly trip over himself as he stooped to gather it as the line beckoned.
Glasgow’s discipline was letting them down. After repeated infringements at the breakdown, it
was hooker Brown who was sent to the bin as his team went down to 14 men for a second time.
Kvesic’s second try of the match secured the bonus point for Exeter on 55 minutes after some sustained pressure inside the Glasgow 22, with Simmonds converting.
Niko Matawalu duly did likewise and notched the bonus point for Glasgow, darting over after a rolling maul had rumbled towards the line. Hastings nailed an outstanding conversion from out wide on the touchline.
Johnson then thought he had won it for Glasgow, only for his effort to be correctly ruled out for a forward pass by Hastings in the build-up.
Hogg then almost snatched it right at the death, only for his booming penalty from inside his own half to rebound back off the crossbar between the posts.