Student report: Chiefs vs Irish

Chiefs 21, Irish 33

A lacklustre performance by Exeter Chiefs ended with them losing to a rampant London Irish side despite winning three on the trot in this season’s Gallagher premiership. 

An early start for London Irish punished the Chiefs’ defence with Argentine international Agustin Creevy touching down to give the Exiles the lead early in the first half. Irish then capitalised on the slow Chiefs’ defence as they broke their line to put another seven points on the board with outside centre Curtis Rona scoring. Sandy Park was shaking to this point, however Chiefs began to gain momentum, opening up the ever-present London Irish defence with second row Will Witty putting five points on the board after a strong pick and go. Joe Simmonds converted, putting the Chiefs a converted try away from getting level. 

Chiefs kept pressing the Exiles’ defense and with just under 20 minutes to go in the first half, Henry Slade worked his magic, giving Tom Hendrickson the ball to make a line break then offloading to Stuart Hogg who went on to score, bringing the points level with another Joe Simmonds conversion. Irish once again tested the Chiefs’ defence, however both teams went into the changing rooms at half time with the score at 14-14.

The second half saw London Irish once again punish the Chiefs, forcing them to make mistakes. Five minutes into play Irish once again gained advantage with inside centre Janse van Rensburg touching down to give the Exiles a five-point lead. Quickly after, the bruised Exeter defence gave away a stupid penalty to give Irish another try; this one coming from winger Ben Loader. Chiefs began to push back, forcing the Exiles into their own half. Exeter came close to scoring, however what would have been Will Witty’s second try of the day was disallowed.

 The new look London Irish side began to control play once again giving them another try in the form of winger Hassel Collins which really summed up the whole day for Declan Kidney’s side. Three minutes later the ever-present footwork of winger Jack Nowell sparked hope for the Chiefs as he found his way through the defence leading to a conversion from Henry Slade, bringing the score to 33-21. For the last 15 minutes of play the Exiles knew their work was done so they focused on keeping possession. The game ended 33-21 to London Irish showing the Chiefs what they need to do in order to prepare for a match Gloucester next Friday.