London Irish come from behind and hold out to beat Exeter Chiefs

Declan Kidney’s London Irish side came from 14-0 down to overhaul the Chiefs before defending resolutely in a scoreless second half to protect their lead.

Exeter Chiefs have no lack of pedigree as the 2019 European Champions and Premiership runners-up from last season. With this in mind, some London Irish fans may have had the worst in mind when the visitors took a two-score lead inside 20 minutes.

After going through the phases in their opening possession of the game, Rob Baxter’s side were able to breach Irish with an inside ball by Jack Maunder finding Olly Woodburn to feint and score.

Some slack ball-handling led to the Exiles once again being pinned back on their own try line and this time it was the brute force that got Exeter over the line. Patrick Schickerling was making his full Premiership debut but the 22-year-old showed no signs of nerves as he ploughed his way over the line to double the Chiefs’ advantage.

It took London Irish almost 20 minutes to enjoy a decent spell of territory, but when they did, they made it count. Matt Cornish recovered from a knock and strolled over following the play being recycled.

Two Paddy Jackson penalties kept the scoreboard ticking over for the hosts, meaning that when James Stokes dove over in the corner, Irish took the lead for the first time in the contest.

Ben Loader improvised immensely to provide the offload to find the fullback, who utilised his agility to keep his body in play for the score. A lengthy TMO review confirmed that London Irish had indeed hit the front on the stroke of half-time.

A scrappy second half saw huge hits and lengthy stoppages which ultimately suited the hosts who defended valiantly at times but also threatened themselves.

Inevitably, there was an Exeter onslaught as full-time approached, but London Irish held on to complete their first double over the Chiefs since their maiden Premiership season.

Irish have now won seven of their last nine games in all competitions, making them one of the in-form teams. Declan Kidney’s side will need to be on their best form to make it back-to-back Premiership wins however as they next face a trip to Kingsholm to face Gloucester.

Meanwhile, Exeter will aim to make it five straight wins at Sandy Park as they welcome Wasps to Devon.

There are now just three points between the two sides, who both find themselves on the outside looking into the play-offs. With plenty of rugby to be played, there is no doubt that there is still every chance that one, or indeed both of these sides will book their place in the semi-finals.

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