Exeter Chiefs Men v Gloucester Rugby

Exeter Chiefs stumbled in their first Gallagher PREM fixture of the season as Gloucester Rugby stormed to a 24-45 win at Sandy Park on Saturday afternoon.

Having faced a staunch defence in the opening quarter, Gloucester broke the seal and ran in four tries before the half was through. They doubled down to score a further three in the second half while Chiefs scored four throughout the match.

In a fitting move to mark his 200th game for the first XV, the kick-off was cleanly received by Olly Woodburn. His returning captain, Dafydd Jenkins, then secured the first penalty of the day when Gloucester couldn’t recover from the big Welshman charging down their box kick.

The cherry and whites were the first to score, however. Having originally gone for a maul charge, Gloucester switched to stretching Chiefs wide as they fed ball to the backline. Ben Redshaw rode a tackle from Woodburn to get the ball chipped away for Ben Loader to run onto for five points.

Josh Iosefa-Scott responded for Chiefs as the big tighthead prop plucked the ball out of the ruck from a tap-and-go close to the line. Henry Slade’s conversion kick took Chiefs into a short lead.

As the Chiefs defence pummelled ball carriers at the line in their 22, Gloucester went for a searching chip over the top which produced points as Seb Atkinson managed to dive upon the ball beneath the posts seconds before Woodburn could reach him. Charlie Atkinson’s conversion was clean from his second attempt at the tee.

Gloucester had a third before a half-hour when Loader scored a carbon copy of his first try in the corner before Atkinson secured the difficult conversion.

Chiefs had to go the length of the field for their second try. Greg Fisilau peeled off the scrum in his own 22 to set Chiefs alight. Harvey Skinner spotted a gap, smuggling ball to Fisilau for an impressive carry. He offloaded to Ethan Burger, who was able to control the ball at his shoulder before Chiefs whipped ball out to the five-metre channel for Ethan Roots to barge his way into the corner.

Welsh international co-captain Dewi Lake added to an already impressive start to his Gloucester career as he scored a try with the clock in the red. His maul had been halted, but he ducked off the edge and got the best of Varney tight to the flag. Atkinson’s conversion brought the half to an end

Lake started as he meant to go on following the break as the Gloucester maul managed to rumble over the line with the captain in control at the base. George Skivington’s men had their tails up and made life difficult for Chiefs in the aftermath.

Will Joseph scored a try off a three-on-two challenge in Chiefs’ 22 but minutes later, the adulation of the crowd all belonged to local lad, Louie Gulley. Four minutes after taking to the field for his Prem debut, the hooker from Crediton carried into the line, to create space for an offload to Fisilau. The back-rower had Varney in support to complete the score against his former side.

With just over five minutes left, Gulley went one better when he scored a try of his own. From close range, he backed himself with ball in hand and barrelled over for five points.

There was to be one last heartbreak for the home support when on 80 minutes, Gloucester debutant Junior Denny ran in one last try for his side. George Barton’s conversion took his side to a large win over the Exeter men.