Exeter go second in Prem after beating Leicester

Image source, Shutterstock

Image caption,

Campbell Ridl got his first Prem try in just his second appearance in the top flight

ByBrent Pilnick

BBC Sport England at Sandy Park

Updated 1 hour ago

The Prem

Exeter Chiefs (14) 24

Tries: Fisilau, Ridl, Varney Cons: Slade 3 Pens: Slade

Leicester Tigers (7) 10

Tries: Henderson Cons: Searle Pens: Searle

Exeter returned to second place in the Prem as they beat Leicester 24-10 at a sold-out Sandy Park.

Greg Fisilau gave Exeter an early lead before 20-year-old winger Campbell Ridl scored his first Prem try in spectacular fashion to help make it 14-0 after 25 minutes.

Harvey Skinner had a third Exeter try disallowed, and moments later Cameron Henderson went over to put Tigers on the scoreboard.

Henry Slade's penalty extended the lead 10 minutes after the break before Stephen Varney's 72nd-minute try made the game safe with Tigers a man down after a yellow card.

Billy Searle scored a late penalty for Tigers, before Ridl and Will Goodrick-Clarke both lost the ball going over the line in stoppage-time as Exeter missed out on a try-scoring bonus point that would have sent them top of the table.

The loss keeps Leicester in fifth place in the Prem after eight rounds of matches, while Exeter are a point behind Northampton and one ahead of third-placed Bath.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Stephen Varney scored his second try in as many matches for Exeter

Tigers survived an early scare after Andrea Zambonin charged down a seventh-minute box kick that led to pressure on their line, but they could not stop the powerful run of Fisilau three minutes later as he went in through the Tigers line from 15 metres.

The lead was almost doubled 11 minutes later, but Tigers held up Bachuki Tchumbadze as he tried to go over after Exeter's dynamic-looking attack had got them to the line.

And soon after, England under-20 winger Ridl, who has burst onto the scene in recent weeks, showed all that dynamism and more as he chipped the ball over his marker before regathering, skipping past Ollie Hassell-Collins and swan-diving under the posts for an unforgettable first-ever Prem Rugby try.

It could have been 21-0 moments later when Skinner chipped over and scored, however replays showed a needless push by Will Rigg on Izaia Perese in the build-up that could have stopped the Tigers centre having a chance of reaching Skinner.

Leicester replied three minutes later as Henderson galloped in after Jamie Blamire found Olly Cracknell, before the Tigers number eight put in his lock to keep the visitors in it at the break.

Having weathered early Leicester pressure, Slade kicked a 50th-minute penalty to open up a 10-point gap before the England centre was tip-tackled by Sam Williams, which saw the Tigers replacement sent to the sin bin.

No sooner had Williams returned to the field than Leicester were reduced to 14 again – this time Searle was judged to have gone in from the side as he tried to stop Skinner as the Exeter fly-half broke for the line.

Referee Anthony Woodthorpe felt Skinner had been brought down by one of Searle's team-mates before he could score, so did not award a penalty try.

Tigers thought they had again weathered the second 14-man spell, but just as Searle was about to return, Fisilau broke through and fed Varney as the Italy scrum-half scored his second try in as many games.

Leicester scored their first points of the half with four minutes left when Searle converted a penalty after replacement Rusi Tuima was sin-binned for head-on-head contact with Finn Theobald-Thomas.

Much of Sandy Park thought their side had gone top of the table as the clock ticked over the 80-minute mark, but Ridl first lost control as he went over in the right corner, while after a couple of penalties Goodrick-Clarke dived in from close range only to have the ball dislodged.

The win, following last week's victory at Saracens, again showed Exeter's title credentials as they continue to recover from last season's dismal showing when they ended the campaign second-from-bottom.

Exeter in a 'positive place across the board'

Exeter attack coach Dave Walder told BBC Sport:

"If this morning you'd have offered us a win we would have taken it.

"Deep down we're a little bit disappointed with our accuracy, but at the same time that's probably a sign of where we've come from and where we are at the moment.

"Last week we were disappointed not to steal an extra point off Saracens with a kick at end of the game and this week we're a little bit disappointed that we weren't able to secure ourselves an extra bonus point with a little bit more accuracy at key moments.

"We're not really too focused on where we are in the league, it's about the process at the moment and the boys are all in a good place, working hard.

"Across the board we're in a positive place, we've got to make sure we don't lose sight of what's got us here and keep that hard work and intent in everything that we do."

Leicester head coach Geoff Parling told BBC Sport:

"I've obviously done something wrong during the week because I just thought we looked slightly off, both during our warm-up and in that first 30 minutes.

"They're a very good team, they're at home and they're playing well with a lot of confidence, but it just showed if you're going away from home against a team like Exeter and you're 5% off in how you prep, 5% off in what you turn up and do during the day that you're going to get hurt.

"I've got a good squad and good players who work hard for each other. As long as we just learn the lessons from today, that if we are slightly off in what we do - and I'll look back over the training week and what we did there - then you're going to get hurt."

Exeter: Woodburn; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Rigg, Ridl; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Dweba, Tchumbadze, Jenkins (c), Zambonin, Hooper, E. Roots, Fisilau.

Replacements: Yeandle, Goodrick-Clarke, J. Roots, Tuima, James, Chapman, Haydon-Wood, John.

Sin bin: Tuima (76)

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Perese, Kata, Hassell-Collins; Searle, Whiteley; N. Smith, Blamire, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum (c), Moro, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Theobald-Thomas, Haffar, Hurd, Thompson, Williams, Van Poortvliet, Bailey, Hamer-Webb.

Sin bin: Williams (51), Searle (62)

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.