Chiefs get first Premiership win of the season

Chiefs 22, Gloucester 15

On a rare Sunday where Exeter’s City and Chiefs both played at 3pm, tenth hosted sixth in this west country sellout with the oval-shaped ball.

Chiefs took the lead in the third minute, Dan Frost scoring after an overthrown lineout. Henry Slade adding the conversion emphatically from wide in front of the Eastern Stand.

Slade’s first penalty attempt, from five-yards past halfway, drifted wide, but Gloucester got off the mark in the 11th, a high tackle allowing Santi Carreras to kick over centrally from 35 metres out.

Chiefs continued to dominate possession, Stu Townsend was held up over the try line before Slade kicked wide to Tamati Tua to score, Slade again adding the points with a plomb.

14-3 at the break.

The first score of the second half came from Kiwi-born, Welsh international, Gareth Anscombe, intercepting and breaking through the middle from 40 yards, Carreras reducing the deficit to four points.

An increasingly cagey affair, very different to the free-flowing Toulouse rugby here a fortnight ago, saw bottom side Chiefs concede again just past the hour mark allowing Gloucester their first lead of the match (14-15). Josh Hathaway pinned Exeter back, then replacement Jamal Ford-Robinson forced over from the resultant line-out, the conversion was surprisingly missed from a simple position.

Better kicking from Chiefs, in the form of a Slade penalty, saw the home side back in front seconds later. Another crucial kick on 70 minutes was somehow missed, a guilt-edged chance for the Cherry & Whites, giving Exeter a real boost into the last 10.

The match-clinching points came on 73, a sustained period of Chiefs pressure saw replacement Josh Iosefa-Scott go over, though unconverted, it was enough for Exeter’s first win since the Premiership Rugby Cup in November.