Exeter Chiefs v Scarlets

It was a day for learning at Sandy Park as a frustrated Exeter Chiefs team fell to a 15-36 defeat to Scarlets Rugby in a friendly match.

Six tries for the Welshmen to the Chiefs’ three put them comfortably ahead in a switched-up second half which saw Chiefs field the remainder of their 35-player strong squad.

A yellow card for Scarlets before the 10-minute mark enabled Chiefs to use the man-power momentum to maul their way over the line for the first score, dotted down by Louie Gulley.

Another set-piece try followed, with local lad Gulley roaring his delight as he bulldozed his way over the whitewash for his second try of the afternoon.

Winger Macs Page got Scarlets on the board just shy of half an hour played. Using the man overlap, he curled his way through and over before Gabe McDonald converted the score.

A second for Scarlets, again converted by McDonald, put them ahead at the death of the half. Olly Woodburn had attempted to wrap up Joe Roberts and hold him up over the line, but the big centre was able to worm his body round to give the referee a clear grounding.

Both teams refreshed the legs for the beginning of the second half, with Chiefs making 11 changes, Ben Hammersley and the new front row the only men remaining on the pitch from the first forty.

Having already slotted two conversions, McDonald added a try to his name as he reopened the game’s scoring on 52 minutes.

A flurry of tries then followed as Page and Roberts both added another to their personal tallies while Dan Davis also wrote his name on the scoresheet. The last of the three was converted again by McDonald to bring the Scarlets’ final score to 36.

There was time for a consolation try for Chiefs with five minutes left. Aussie hooker Julian Heaven controlled the ball well at the rear of the driving maul, as he dove over the line to seal five points for the Exeter men.

Thus ended the day 15-36 in the opposition’s favour. On a positive note, from a Chiefs perspective, it was an opportunity for young players to experience their first Sandy Park run-out and gave the coaches some clear game areas to develop upon ahead of next week’s first competitive fixture in the PREM Rugby Cup against Bristol Bears.