14-man Exeter defeat Sale to secure a home semi-final

Exeter Chiefs sparked a second half comeback to defeat Sale Sharks 20-19 and secure an all-important home semi-final.

Despite Sam Skinner’s red card, the reigning Champions fought back from 16-points down to end Sale’s hopes of a second placed finish.

Exeter only needed a point to finish above Sharks in the table, and a Joe Simmonds penalty with seven minutes remaining ensured a sixth straight Sandy Park semi-final.

Exeter Chiefs will now host Sale Sharks next Saturday in the play-off semi-final.

Sale started in perfect style when Byron McGuigan crossed inside two minutes for their first try of the game.

A fantastic kick in behind from MacGinty fell into the hands of Arron Reed, and the visitors worked the ball out to the opposite wing where McGuigan was to cross simply.

Simmonds reduced the lead to four points soon after, but Sharks’ fast-paced and aggressive start caused the Chiefs concerns.

An over-thrown lineout gifted Sale possession inside Chiefs’ 22, and from there back-to-back penalties set Sharks up 5m out. However, Exeter coped well with the maul to prevent any further damage from being done.

Sharks pressure continued and their hard work and aggression at the breakdown resulted in the awarding of another 5m penalty- this time they capitalised.

From the lineout, and with a penalty advantage being played, a dummy from MacGinty created a pocket of space, which the fly half was able to exploit to dive over for a second Sharks try.

Sale dominated the opening half an hour in attack and in defence they had been equally impressive, particularly Tom Curry. The England international was perfectly positioned at the breakdown to overturn play and ending Chiefs’ first venture into the 22.

The visitors were reduced to 14 after 33 minutes when Dave Ewers was shown a yellow card upon a TMO review. Contact to the head was the offence, and the flanker avoided red due to the mitigation being the player had been spun around in the tackle.

Sale held their 11-point lead at the break but quickly increased this within minutes of the restart when Arron Reed touched town in the corner.

MacGinty turned provider with an eye of the needle grubber kick which bounced perfectly into the hands of the winger to score and extend Sharks’ lead to 19-3.

A home semi-final was starting to slip out of Chiefs’ hands, and the pressure mounted when they were reduced to 14 with 25 minutes to go.

Upon a TMO review, Skinner’s tackle on Faf de Klerk showed direct contact to the head, and referee, Karl Dickson had no choice but to show the flanker red.

From the penalty, Luke Cowan-Dickie did fantastically to overturn the ball defensively and minutes later in attack, he powered over to offer Exeter a route back into the game.

Sharks found themselves scrambling on their own try line, and with a sinbinning looming, Chiefs’ hooker was able to force his way over from close range to reduce the point’s difference to nine.

For the first time in the contest the visitors were stunned, and after a previous warning, they were reduced to 14 when Ben Curry was shown a yellow for an offence in the maul.

Chiefs set themselves up on the try line from the lineout, before replacement scrum half, Stu Townsend, snuck the ball down to move Exeter to within two points of Sale.

The game had turned on its head, and momentum had completely swung in favour of the hosts who were being pushed on by those in attendance.

Another penalty resulted in Sale finding themselves behind on the score board for the first time in the game when a monstrous penalty from J. Simmonds sailed through the posts with 10 minutes to play,

Chiefs were able to see out the time remaining on the clock to ensure they completed what they needed to do- albeit in the most complicated way.

Things worsened for the Sharks- who had already lost Cameron Neild and Akker Van Der Merwe to injury- when MacGinty was stretchered off in the final 30 seconds with what appeared to be a knee injury.

Both teams will meet again in seven days time in the semi-final, and if it’s anything similar to what was on show today, a thriller is instore.

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