Chiefs continue winning streak beating Gloucester

Exeter move up to third

Exeter Chiefs moved up to third place in the premiership following a tight win over Gloucester, giving the fans even more hope in the race for the play-offs. 

It was a lively start for the Chiefs, which was almost matched by the away side, and this set the tone on what was a very end-to-end first half. 

After substantial pressure, it was Exeter who drew first blood with a well-deserved try-courtesy of Scottish lock Johnny Gray who was mauled over following a scrum, to reward the hosts an early advantage. 

However, Gloucester hit back within minutes as they spun the ball out wide and touched down to level the scorings early on. 

Exeter centre Solomone Kata responded with a well-worked try and placed the ball down from short range and the away side were holding off for Exeter to make a mistake. 

Gloucester’s patience was subdued, with a strong attack, which managed to break Exeter’s defence and after a penalty advantage, the travellers forced a try. A very enjoyable segment of rugby was being played, where the scores continued to bounce back and forth.

Following some excellent play from Exeter in Gloucester’s half, the ball was forced out wide by the hosts to enable winger Olly Woodburn the chance to touch down and ensured it was the Chiefs who were leading at the break. 

The half-time score being Chiefs 21, Gloucester 14.

The tempo in the second half certainly slowed down and both sides were matching each other strength to strength. After a period of zero points being scored, a Harvey Skinner penalty kick added three points for the Chiefs in what was a hesitant second half, for both sides. 

Chiefs were in control of the game, despite a handful of kick tennis sets being played! The Chiefs just couldn’t find a way through Gloucester’s solid defence, so were thwarted a bonus point try in the second half. With the last kick of the game, Gloucester managed to add three points with a consolation penalty. 

Line-ups:

Exeter Chiefs: Hodge, Nowell, Whitten, Kata, Woodburn, Skinner, S. Maunder; Sio, Innard, Williams, Gray, Jenkins, Ewers, Kirsten, Fisilau.Replacements: Frost, Kenny, Schickerling, Dunne, Davis, J. Maunder, Simmonds, O'Loughlin.

Gloucester: Carreras, May, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley, Twelvetrees, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin, Blake, Gotovtsev, Jordan, Alemanno, Clement, Ludlow (c), Tuisue. 

Replacements: Walker, Elrington, Ford-Robinson, Clarke, Morgan, Chapman, Seabrook, Evans.

Attendance: 11,078