Home was certainly where the heart was on Wednesday afternoon, as EURFC returned to winning ways with a 37-8 victory over Cardiff University.

EURFC scored six tries in all, in their first BUCS Super Rugby home match since February 2020. Despite the margin of victory though, there will still be plenty of room for improvement, as the side looked to slip off the gas in the second half. First half scores for Jacob Morris, Dafydd Jenkins, Charlie McCaig and Arthur Relton, were added to in the second half with another score for McCaig and a try on debut for Kofi Barton-Byfield.

Before kick-off, news broke of the inclusion of second-row Christ Tshiunza in the Welsh squad for the upcoming Autumn Internationals, with the young forward having to put that to the back of his mind, as he prepared to play his first match for the university.

The early exchanges saw EURFC win the battle in the air, Arthur Relton gathering a box kick from Will Yarnell, as his side looked to build the early momentum.

Instead though, it was Cardiff who had the first attempt to open their account for the afternoon, with Exeter penalised at the breakdown. Fly half Elliott Haydon’s penalty drifted wide, as Exeter breathed a sigh of relief.

That early miss seemed to spark EURFC into life, as Relton, Josh Barton and Tom Hitchcock on his first start, all combined superbly to take play to within sight of the Cardiff line. After several strong carries from the pack, Exeter looked for all money to be in for the score, only for a combination of Cardiff defenders to hold the ball up.

In truth, the opening exchanges were somewhat frenetic, with Cardiff next to ask some defensive questions. Haydon found centre Jamie Hoyes in space, as he carved through the Exeter midfield, only for his pass to Jake Thomas to eventually drift forwards and bobble into touch.

As Exeter looked to clear their lines though, the referee spotted an offside, allowing Haydon to make no mistake at the second attempt, opening his side’s account for the afternoon from the tee.

From the restart, the Exeter pack drew a penalty from Cardiff, Barton camping his side in the visitors 22. From there, Exeter continued to press and ask questions, drawing multiple penalties from the Cardiff pack until eventually, Jacob Morris drove over from close range for his third score in three games, Barton adding the straightforward conversion.

With the match beginning to open up, Exeter began to search for space in the wide channels, centre Hitchcock feeding captain Olly White to trundle down the wing, making good yardage for his side.

Yarnell’s kick in behind sent Cardiff tracking back in retreat, as Exeter continued to apply the pressure. It finally told as scrum half Josh Oakley looked to clear his lines, only for the huge palms of Dafydd Jenkins to charge down the kick, the second-row having just enough time to gather the ball and score.

As Exeter continued to put the hammer down, Cardiff’s Jake Thomas saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on in his 22.

A third score would follow soon after, as again Cardiff’s indiscipline gave Exeter a prime attacking opportunity. Playing with the advantage, Barton threw a sumptuous pass to cut out three defenders, Relton latching onto the ball to race in unopposed.

Barton kept the scoreboard ticking over with a penalty, before the unlikely combination of Harvey Dunn and Ollie Burrows channelled their inner backs play to put Exeter in sight of another prime scoring opportunity with some beautiful interplay down the short side.

Cardiff eventually cleared their lines but only found Relton in midfield. From there, the fourth score was all about the elusiveness of the winger, as he shimmied out of several tackles and burst into the Cardiff 22, rounding Haydon and offloading to McCaig to dot down.

HALF-TIME: EXETER UNIVERSITY 25-3 CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

The second-half saw Exeter begin at breakneck speed, as they scored their fifth of the afternoon just three minutes into the half. It was a cracker too, as number 8 Archie Hosking showed power and poise to hold off the would-be tacklers, offloading to Relton who raced clear, unselfishly feeding McCaig for his second of the afternoon, Barton converting from in front of the posts.

Exeter continued with their forward momentum, again challenging the Cardiff tryline, only for Christ Tshiunza to be held up.

With Exeter’s momentum building, it was stopped in its tracks on the 50-minute mark, as Cardiff backrow Greg Ramage was knocked unconscious after colliding with the knee of Dan John as he looked to tackle the Exeter fullback. With the referee unaware of the collision, players from both sides shouted to stop play, with Dunn and Cardiff’s Thomas both stopping play to immediately help Ramage.

Play restarted with a scrum and Exeter took full advantage, scoring their sixth from a set play. Again, Hosking broke from the base, showing poise to feed Yarnell, who raced through the Cardiff defence, feeding Kofi Barton-Byfield to dive in for a debut try.

For whatever reason, Exeter then fell flat after that score, as Cardiff to their credit, showed flair and intent as they looked to force their way back into the match. With replacement Cam Evans showing a clean pair of heels and some offloading flair, Cardiff forced their way into the Exeter 22, intent on breaking down the EURFC defensive door.

On multiple occasions, they were held up or spilt the ball as they looked to ground for a score.

It took until the 74th minute, but eventually, they secured themselves the try their endeavour deserved. With Evans again driving his side forward in attack, fullback Luke Pollock slipped through several missed tackles. His attempted offload didn’t quite go to hand, but replacement scrum half Mikel Davies showed impressive awareness, to pop the ball out wide to Thomas to skip over for the final say in proceedings.

Next week sees EURFC ready themselves for another away day, as they make the trip to Leeds Beckett, hoping to improve again on what was a stop-start performance at Topsham.