Exeter Chiefs Men v Sale Sharks

Sale Sharks were the happy victors at the CorpAcq Stadium on Friday evening as Exeter Chiefs were defeated 38-24 in the PREM Rugby Cup.

The round four match took place in Manchester, with Chiefs’ four tries not proving to be enough to take the win away from Alex Sanderson’s men.

Chiefs steadily marched their way downfield in the opening 10 minutes. Infringements at set-piece cost Sale territory and Chiefs found themselves working with the ball in the opposition 22.

Moving the ball with pace, fly-half Ben Coen hot-stepped a defender to break into space. A well-weighted pass found Charlie Poynton who was advancing down the wing at pace and the Aussie flew over for the opening try.

Sale responded immediately from the restart, however. Originally moving ball through the hands, they spotted an option out wide and a chip went across to Alex Wills on the opposite wing. He rose just an inch higher than Paul Brown-Bampoe in the air, claiming the ball and reaching out for the try line as the pair hit the ground.

Ollie Davies’ conversion took the home side ahead. Their search for more points was aided when after 16 minutes Brown-Bampoe was sent to the sin bin for a tackle in the air. Sale utilised the man advantage with rapid pace as, on his 50th appearance, Rekeiti Ma'asi-White cantered in down the wing to mark the occasion with a try. Davies dutifully added the conversion.

Having lost Finn Worley Brady to a head injury assessment just before the half hour mark, Chiefs had to be patient. Possession jockeyed between the two sides as they each looked for a crack to appear in the defensive line.

Thankfully for Chiefs, it was Sale’s line that softened first. On the eve of half-time, Coen burst through a tackle on the edge of the Sale 22 and with options running in to man a support line either side of him, the former England U20 backed himself. He ran in the try beneath the posts before converting it himself to end the half.

Sale struck first after the two sides emerged out of the changing rooms from the break. A penalty enabled them to go for the corner and with almost the entire XV fired into the maul, hooker Alfie Longstaff was able to drive over for the try.

There was delight for the Chiefs dugout, and just a touch of disbelief, when just minutes after taking to the field as a replacement, prop Archie McArthur ran in a try from the 10-metre line. The conversion pulled a hair wide, but the delight was clear on the front-rower’s face.

From one front-rower to another, Sale’s replacements got in on the try-scoring action as well when Nathan Jibulu trundled over at the rear of a maul for a five-pointer. Davies converted to take the home side nine points ahead.

Chiefs closed the gap with a little over 10 minutes left. Coen’s perfectly weighted pass put Sam Harris into space and the full-back utilised his support runner, feeding match captain Sam Wolstenholme for the try. Coen quickly took the conversion.

Sale reasserted their lead with a third maul try a couple of minutes later, Jibulu securing his second of the evening. However, within the conversion, it became a seven-point game.

Chiefs faltered in the home straight though. With four minutes on the clock, a new penalty enabled Sale to go for the corner yet again. This time the maul failed to meet the line but only as Chiefs were deemed to have downed it deliberately. Therefore, replacement hooker Max Norey was sent to the sin bin as Sale were awarded a penalty try.

There wasn’t time for Chiefs to claw their way back into the encounter but a bright spot in a frustrating end was Chiefs Academy and Exeter College full-back Will McIntosh taking to the field for his debut.

Chiefs now enter a long turnaround before hosting Gloucester Rugby at Sandy Park next weekend in the last game of this PREM Rugby Cup block.