Inexperienced Exeter Overpowered by Dominant Beckett

Despite the changes to the side, Exeter opened the match on the front foot, going through multiple phases and drawing in the Beckett defence, scrum-half Sam Maunder controlling proceedings with a series of well-judged box kicks. On 8 minutes, Exeter thought they’d scored an opportunistic first through winger Jordan Bond. After interplay from Charlie Davies and Paul Schroter had taken Exeter to within metres of the line, the opportunity seemed to have disappeared as Beckett secured a turnover. However, with the ball at the base of a ruck on the try-line, Bond put his hand on it, thinking he’d scored. Sadly, the referee deemed the winger to have strayed past the offside line and ruled out the score.

From there, Beckett were able to grab a foothold in the game and open up an advantage they would never relinquish, opening the scoring on 13 minutes. After an overthrown lineout from Exeter, Beckett spread the ball through the hands, going through several phases before spinning the ball wide for their winger to dart in in the far corner. On 17 minutes, Exeter opened their account for the afternoon through a Carl Morgan penalty, as Beckett were caught offside chasing a kick through. Beckett’s response was quick though as, after Morgan fumbled the ball into touch, Beckett again went through the phases for a well-worked score. Playing with the advantage, Beckett’s fly-half kicked cross-field, the ball being tapped down for winger Coyle to score his second.

Their third game in the 32nd minute as, with Exeter looking to attack from deep, the ball was lost, allowing Beckett to streak clear to score from halfway. With the conversion, their advantage stood at 17-3. Exeter scored their first try of the afternoon on 37 minutes, in typically powerful fashion. After Morgan had found touch 5m out from the Beckett line, the forwards went through the phases, Richard Capstick grounding the ball at the base of the post. With Exeter on the front foot, they almost scored again on halftime as a well-worked maul took them to within a metre of the line, Tom Addison eventually stopped just short and the ball being deemed unplayable to signal the end of the first 40. At halftime, Exeter trailed 17-10.

At the start of the second half, Beckett came out with a renewed sense of purpose, scoring their bonus-point try on 45 minutes. After again turning the ball over in midfield, Beckett’s outside centre spotted a gaping hole in Exeter’s midfield defence, sprinting clear of the desperate tracking defender. The conversion extended the lead to 24-10. Beckett almost scored again in the 51st minute as they went through the phases, creating a try-scoring opportunity out wide. To the relief of the watching Exeter subs and supporters, the final pass was badly misplaced, their winger knocking on as he attempted to pick the ball up from his ankles. Beckett scored their fifth minutes later as they spread it wide off a scrum that came about after a speculative Albert Slade offload drifted well forward.

Exeter didn’t give up though and scored their second in the 60th minute as replacement hooker Chris Moore profited from a well-formed rolling maul. Replacement fly-half Josh Barton was unable to add the extras but Exeter reduced the deficit to 14 points. Even in defeat, there were some huge positives for Exeter, notably the impact of Taylor-Baggs and Kiff off the bench, who added renewed dynamism in the loose, whilst stabilising the set-piece. Despite the players best efforts, Beckett scored their sixth in the 71st minute, again capitalising on an overlap out wide, the conversion taking the score to 36-15. Their 7th swiftly followed as, after Exeter were penalised for not releasing, Beckett’s replacement back row broke free of some tired Exeter tackles to crash in for a converted score under the posts. There was still time for one more score, as Beckett stole an Exeter lineout and raced clear into the Exeter 22 from near their own try-line. Despite Relton’s covering tackle, Beckett recycled the ball quickly, scoring after some poor attempted tackles from Exeter. At full-time, Leeds Beckett secured a resounding 50-15 victory to take them above Exeter into 2nd in the BUCS Super Rugby table.

In all, it was a difficult afternoon for Exeter as Beckett dominated every facet of the game. The issues at lineout time again resurfaced, something that will have to be addressed quickly moving forward, with a high penalty count not helping matters. Despite this, it was a positive opportunity to blood a number of new players, with the likes of the aforementioned Kiff and Taylor-Baggs having a real impact off the bench. Next up for Exeter is a huge clash with Hartpury next week, as the side look to right the wrongs of this week’s performance.