Exeter back in playoff spot after a hard-fought win over Gloucester

Exeter Chiefs leapfrogged Gloucester into the top four in the Gallagher Premiership table with a hard-fought 24-17 victory at Sandy Park. Once again, Exeter’s young guns Dafydd Jenkins, Josh Hodge and Greg Fisilau caught the eye as the Chiefs made it back-to-back league wins for the first time since September.

Gloucester impressed in defence, but they were unable to offer much in attack, especially in the second half, when they struggled to get their hands on the ball inside Exeter territory. They did not help their cause by missing two penalty kicks to the corner, which cost them the chance to gain valuable yards and put them in a dangerous position.

Chiefs made a very bright start to the game and were rewarded with a try by Scotland international lock Jonny Gray – making his last Exeter appearance before the Six Nations championship – finishing off a move off the back of a five-metre scrum, with kicker for the day Harvey Skinner adding the extras.

Gloucester responded rapidly when an uncharacteristic knock-on by Olly Woodburn gave the visitors their own close-range scrum, and when the ball was moved to the right, winger Jonny May answered his disappointment at being left out of Steve Borthwick’s first England squad by running in out wide for a try, improved by Billy Twelvetrees.

Powerful Tongan centre Solomone Kata made it three tries in seven minutes in a hugely entertaining first half when he fought his way over in the left-hand corner, but Gloucester’s England prop Val Rapava-Ruskin got on the end of a catch-and-drive on the half-hour mark, and with both of those tries converted, it was level pegging at 14-14.

Woodburn made sure Chiefs ended a ding-dong opening 40 minutes with their noses in front when he crossed the whitewash from close range five minutes before the break after Jack Nowell had been stopped just short, and with Skinner once more converting, it gave the Chiefs a 21-14 interval advantage.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half were pretty even, but when Gloucester lock Cam Jordan was penalised for a double movement, the Chiefs sensibly opted to stretch their lead to 10 points with a penalty by Skinner. With plenty of kick tennis, the second half was not quite the spectacle of the first, with Exeter having the larger share of possession but most of the action between the two 22-metre lines and defences very much on top.

However, the Devon side will no doubt be disappointed they gave away a penalty in the final minute, slotted from 45 metres by Argentinian full-back Santi Carreras, which earned Gloucester a losing bonus point that could prove so crucial come the end of the season in the battle for the top four and the Premiership semi-finals.