NARROW DEFEAT AT THE REC GROUND

Exeter Chiefs fought to the death of the game at The Rec, securing two important points in round two of the Gallagher PREM against Bath Rugby.

Chiefs made life hard for themselves in the first half, conceding four tries compared to their two scored. Scotland fly-half Finn Russell was pulling the strings, scoring a try of his own with the clock in the dead of the first 40 minutes to put his side 26-10 up heading back into the changing rooms.

It was another Scotsman who scored the opener. Intercepting Harvey Skinner’s pass on the Bath 10-metre line, Redpath outpaced a retreating Skinner and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to fly over for five points. Russell opened his account at the tee by slicing the uprights for an extra two.

From fly-half to scrum-half, Bernard van der Linde scored Bath’s seconds. The South African spotted a gap at he arrived at the ruck, snuck his slight frame through it and cantered in for five which Russell made seven.

Chiefs man Stephen Varney showed he could match the move. The break originated with Feyi-Waboso, the winger deploying some snake hips to allude the defence’s attempted tackles. The England man was eventually brought down a metre short but Varney went himself for the five points.

One of Johann van Graan’s biggest summer signings Dan du Preez was next on the scoresheet. The number eight powered over from close range, though Russell’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Chiefs responded immediately, working the ball downfield to set up a maul in the Bath 22. With bodies flying in to add force, club captain Jack Yeandle held the ball steady at the rear and grounded at the first spotting of white paint.

Russell’s solo effort wrapped up four tries in the half for his side, leaving Chiefs with a familiar feeling of having a lot of work to do in the second half.

Josh Iosefa-Scott reopened the Chiefs account after the break with a tight-to-the-line pick and go try. Having altered his kicking processes with a few shots at goal during half-time, Henry Slade took the successful conversion.

Feyi-Waboso bagged himself a brace in the following 10 minutes. His first saw him take a floated pass in the 22 and step a defender while his second was all the biproduct of former Bath man Will Butt rampaging his way through the line for the break which freed him up to feed ball to his winger.

Bath regrouped and were camped deep in Chiefs territory with a penalty advantage when a split second error from Varney gave them seven points and a man advantage. As the home side went to the wide channels from a tap-and-go, Chiefs’ scrum-half in a desperate attempt to prevent the try knocked the ball on. His action was deemed deliberate, and so a yellow card was produced and a penalty try awarded.

Replacement Ted Hill added another to Bath’s tally with 10 minutes left. The home crowd favourite took a carry off the maul to cross beneath the posts, giving his fly-half an easy conversion to take once he’d seen out the shot clock.

With gritted teeth, Chiefs continued to dig in, looking to bounce back and draw within losing bonus point range. There was a hopeful break for Sam Wolstenholme but the ball was slowed up by the Bath men, scuppering his attempt to charge for the line.

With 80 seconds left, Chiefs were awarded a penalty in the middle of the field in Bath’s half. Skinner stepped up to the tee for Chiefs, splitting the uprights to secure a losing bonus point.

Chiefs now return to Sandy Park with two important points from another physical and bruising encounter at The Rec.