Capital Gains as Exeter Keep Pace at the Top

In front of a large crowd of alumni, including a considerable number from EURFC, the boys opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a penalty try, after considerable pressure in the drive from the pack caused Loughborough to collapse the maul with the try-line inches away. It was a perfect reward for the forward dominance Exeter exerted in the opening minutes. However, Loughborough responded quickly, with a well-worked score from their backline two minutes later. After some good initial phase play in the midfield, Loughborough spread the ball through the hands; attacking the short side, before the ball was fed to their left winger, who dived in out wide. With the missed conversion, Exeter maintained a slender advantage at 7-5. In truth this was a cagey first half, with both teams content to play for territory and keep ball in hand in midfield when necessary.

Only in patches did the game spark into life and get the crowd on their feet, none more so than on two separate occasions before the twenty-minute mark. First, winger Luke Mehson made an incisive break, evading multiple tacklers as he ran from 22 to 22, eventually spilling the ball in contact. This was followed by a massive effort from the Exeter pack, who won the scrum against the head. After a beautiful floated pass out wide by Bazalgette, fullback Charlie Davies fed Arthur Relton, who looked to be scoring out wide, before an illegal tackle from his opposite man stopped the score. Despite the Loughborough player receiving a yellow card, the officials deemed that there was enough covering defence to not award a penalty try.

Play again settled down into a territorial battle, with Loughborough next to score in the 35th minute, slotting over a penalty for an 8-7 lead after Exeter were caught with hands in the ruck. Loughborough struck again on the stroke of half-time with a second successful penalty kick, after Exeter were penalised for holding on, trying to play the ball out of their own half, allowing Loughborough to take an 11-7 lead into the break.

On 44 minutes, scrum-half Sam Maunder made his return to the side, with his impact almost immediate. The added pace that his arrival bought to the backline saw Exeter regain the lead in the 46th minute through a fortunate score. After prop Matt Johnson had tried to gather a loose pass, the bobbling ball went backwards, popping up into Joe Elderkin’s hands. The confusion in the Loughborough ranks allowed him to sprint clear and score unopposed from forty metres out. Bazalgette’s conversion saw Exeter retake the lead 14-11. Exeter struck again in the 53rd minute through Maunder. After Jaiani had done well to steal the ball at the lineout, Exeter worked the fringes, attacking down the blind-side through Mehson, who drew the final defender and fed Maunder on his inside to run in for the score. This was brilliant tracking play by the replacement scrum-half, with Mehson showing good vision to help create the scoring opportunity. Bazalgette again added the extras to increase the lead to 10 points.

Loughborough would not go away though and again responded in the 59th minute through a simple 2-on-1 score after a sumptuous miss pass from their fly-half. Despite the missed conversion, the deficit was reduced to 21-16. Loughborough looked the more menacing in this phase of the match, strangling the Exeter attack and drawing out opportunities of their own. They had the chance to reduce the gap to just 2 points in the 65th minute. However, the penalty kick drifted wide.

This seemed to spark Exeter back into life and despite Bazalgette missing just his second kick of the season from a 69th minute penalty, he made no mistake at the second time of asking, stretching the lead to 8 points with five minutes remaining. Loughborough attempted to respond, attacking from their own try-line before Exeter, roared on by the now incredibly vocal London branch of the supporters club, scored the fourth and final try of the night in the 79th minute, replacement centre Scardamaglia pouncing upon a loose pass from Loughborough to run in from 10 metres out. Bazalgette’s conversion extended the score to 31-16. There was still time for Loughborough to have one last attacking opportunity, Scardamaglia being yellow carded for a deliberate offside, before the ball was held up in contact to seal the Exeter victory.

This was a competent, professional away performance from Exeter, with Jaiani and Yates superb in the tight and Davies at fullback rediscovering the form that made him such a frightening prospect for opposition defences last season. Next up for Exeter, a top of the table clash with undefeated Durham in what should prove to be a mammoth tussle, between two in form teams.