Exeter Chiefs 10 - Leinster 22
Feb
Exeter Chiefs suffered their second defeat in this competition while a strong Leinster performance gave the visitors a hat-trick of victories over the South West contingent in Pool A.
The Chiefs were unrecognisable from the side that has been winning again recently in the Championship with none of the starting line-up from last week’s win at Cornish Pirates featuring in this game. As for the visitors, although they had no fewer than nine players away on international duty for Ireland in Paris, they were still able to field a strong side including four players boasting 178 international appearances between them.
Leinster started strongly and were ahead after just two minutes; the Chiefs lost their first lineout and gave away a penalty as they struggled to regain possession. Leinster kicked the penalty to the halfway line and, from the resulting throw, they moved the ball quickly down the line to former Bath man Shaun Berne, who slipped a lovely short pass to break the Chiefs line creating space for winger Dave Kearney to sprint over for the score. Berne failed with the conversion attempt.
The try served as a wake up call and Exeter began to gain some possession after the restart. The Chiefs almost levelled the score after 10 minutes as Tom Johnson and Richard Bolt fashioned a blindside move from a scrum on halfway to make inroads deep into Leinster territory before the attack ended with a penalty awarded to the Chiefs on the Leinster 22-metre line. Danny Gray kicked to the corner and from the lineout Exeter set up an aggressive maul which powered over the Leinster line with Sam Blythe securing the try; Gray missed with conversion attempt.
Exeter were to score again just eight minutes later. From a penalty, Gray kicked to the Leinster 22-metre line and, from the quickly won lineout, Gray sent a superb raking cross-field kick straight into the arms of the onrushing Sean Marsden who collected the ball safely and dropped down for the try. Gray could not quite match the quality of that kick with the extra points.
The Chiefs were good value for their lead at this stage but a yellow card for Matt Cornwell after 24 minutes put them on the back foot. Cornwell could not resist kicking at a loose ball in a ruck but it was right in front of the referee who had no hesitation in sending him to the sin-bin. Leinster took advantage of their superior numbers and enjoyed their best period of the game so far as they pressed the Exeter defence aided by a number of ineffective tackles by the home side. Leinster tried a cross field kick of their own on the half hour to Kearney who knocked the ball on when over the try-line. Leinster came again as Exeter failed to clear their lines and were over the try-line again within minutes but this time the ball was held up by a scrambling defence. From a scrum soon after, Leinster finally got some reward for their efforts as Exeter’s efforts to repel a forwards attack left space and men out wide and the ball was shipped out to Kearney who went over for his second score of the afternoon; this time Berne converted.
The first half promised much but the second half failed to live up to any expectations. Leinster seemed far more motivated after the break and attacked and defended with strength and commitment. When Berne dropped a goal on 49 minutes, rather than continuing with an attacking move, it seemed to signal that Leinster felt they could defend any lead. Berne missed with a penalty attempt five minutes later but the screw was being tightened by Leinster and Exeter were struggling to get back into the game.
The third quarter of the game saw Leinster dominate in defence and threaten occasionally in attack. The Chiefs could not escape their own half and, as they became increasingly desperate to create something, Paul McKenzie was forced into a hurried clearance kick, which was charged down and gathered up by Leinster skipper Paul O’Donohue who sped over for another converted try with just over 10 minutes left.
The Chiefs nearly got some luck of their own towards the end of the game as Cornwell charged down a Leinster clearance inside the visitors half but although he linked effectively with McKenzie the two of them could not find the killer pass to put debutante Nick Greenhalgh away.
It is not often that an Exeter side go an entire half without scoring, particularly the second period, but it was testament to the physicality and determination of the Leinster players who clearly demonstrated that they are in this competition to win it.
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs – Lewis; Marsden, Bedford (Greenhalgh 50mins), Cornwell, McKenzie; Gray, Bolt; Moon, Blythe (Nelson 58mins), Murphy (Kingsland 61mins), Tomes, Bentley (Ewers 54mins), Gannon (Ewers blood 33-40mins), Scaysbrook (capt), Johnson (Stupple 70mins).
Leinster – Dempsey; Morris (Keogh 6mins), O’Malley, Berne, Kearney; Madigan, O’Donohoe (capt) (Moore 71mins); Wright, Strauss (Harris-Wright 62mins), Ross (McCormack 56mins), Hogan, O’Kelly (Toner 56mins), Sheriff, Ryan, Keogh (Ruddock 71mins).
Scorers:
Exeter Chiefs – Tries: Blythe; Marsden.
Leinster – Tries: Kearney (2), O’Donohue; Cons: Berne (2); DG: Berne.
Yellow cards:
Exeter Chiefs – Cornwell 24 mins.
Officials:
Ref: Leighton Hodges; TJs: Richard Parker-Sedgemore & Nigel Higginson
Attendance:
3,505
