Exeter Chiefs tame Leicester Tigers to jump into the top four

Exeter Chiefs survived a late Leicester Tigers fightback to win 29-10 and move into the top four for Christmas.

A penalty try, alongside scores from Jacques Vermeulen, Henry Slade and Rusi Tuima were enough to steer the Chiefs to victory in front of a record breaking crowd at Sandy Park.

The home side would lay their stall out early, with two tries in the first ten minutes. The first would come through South African powerhouse Jacques Vermeulen, who crashed over from short range, and Leicester’s George Martin would cost his side seven more points just three minutes later.

The young England international tackled Rory O’Loughlin off the ball which gifted Exeter a penalty try and saw him placed on the naughty step for 10 minutes.

Trench warfare ensued after the early excitement, with both teams throwing the kitchen sink at each other. The next score felt crucial.

Exeter would have two golden opportunities to score this all important try, but it came to no avail. The first was probably the best of the pair. A great break found the ball in Lewis Pearson’s hands and the Chiefs had a three on one, but the towering second-rower caught white line fever and kept it himself-and ultimately let the chance go begging.

Jack Yeandle was on hand to dot down from short range shortly after; however it was stricken off for double movement. Momentum was still firmly with the Chiefs though, and they would eventually get their just deserved try.

A sloppy pass from Handre Pollard fell to floor, and the man of the moment Henry Slade reacted quickest to scoop the ball up and race home. He would knock over the easy conversion to make it 21-0 at the break, but it felt like a long way back for the visitors from here.

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With play getting back underway, Exeter’s dominance in the scrum was clear for all to see and it helped Rob Baxter’s men their first points of the second half. A scrum penalty within kicking range gave Henry Slade an easy way to add to his points haul, and the centre duly obliged.

With the game seemingly getting away from the Tigers, they needed to score.

They nearly grabbed one back through Jasper Weise, but the powerful forward was denied by a sacrifice play from Tommy Wyatt; but they wouldn’t be held back for long as Anthony Watson crossed out wide.

Powerful work from the pack sucked in the Chiefs defence, and a lofted pass from Pollard found its way to Watson in acers of space to score. Pollard couldn’t add the conversion.

Poor execution and ill-discipline from the Chiefs would gift Leicester territory, which the visitors would eventually turn into points.

In a carbon copy to their first try, powerful work from the forwards sucked the defenders in, and a looping pass from former Chief Solomone Kata would connect with Freddie Steward out wide for the score. Jamie Shillcock couldn’t add the conversion.

Trench warfare would again ensue in the closing quarter, but there would be one last hurrah as Rusi Tuima secured the bonus point for the home side.

A fantastic break from Tommy Wyatt moved the Chiefs into touching distance of the line, and Tuima would make the most of this opportunity as he scored the all important forth try to give Exeter fans an early Christmas present.