It was EURFC who were left singing in the rain, as they secured a 6-try victory over Swansea University in a 34-10 result.

A hattrick from hooker Luke Bury, as well as a double from Arthur Relton and a further score from Dan John secured victory, as both sides had to deal with howling rain and a swirling wind throughout.

Swansea responded through a Ben Gregory try and five points from the boot of Gwyn Parks, but Exeter always seemed to have the edge throughout the encounter.

On a day such as this, the set-piece was always going to be one of the most critical factors. Early on, the Exeter scrum was able to assert its dominance, as the pack sent Swansea flying back in reverse.

The side were unable to capitalise on that opportunity, but an early try would not be too far away. After a kick through from Swansea, fly half Josh Barton gathered well, spotting a mismatch in midfield and breaking free, offloading to Olly White to take play up to the Swansea 22.

The visitors in their panic then were penalised for hands in the ruck, allowing Barton to put his side ten metres out from the line. From there, the dominance of the pack shone through, Luke Bury grounding after his side had mauled their way up to the Swansea line.

As is so often the case though in rugby, Exeter were then penalised at the breakdown after the restart, allowing Parks, with the wind at his back, to drill the ball to within five metres of the Exeter line. From there, it was a near-copy and paste of Exeter’s opening score, as Swansea’s pack swarmed towards the Exeter line, Ben Gregory dotting down.

Parks converted and it wasn’t long before Swansea were back down in the Exeter 22, as a probing chip over the top from the fly half was cleanly gathered by Max Bliss. Exeter though, were penalised for blocking off the would-be Swansea tackler, allowing Parks to slot a simple penalty to take his side into the lead.

Considering the conditions, the handling of both sides was something to be applauded and Exeter’s second try, was a thing of beauty, as the back three combined to allow Arthur Relton to dive over.

After Dafydd Jenkins had managed to regather the restart for his side, Exeter built the phases up towards the Swansea 22. As the visitors then infringed at the breakdown, Barton floated a pass wide to wing James Botterill, who fed fullback Max Bliss on the far side, before the fullback fed Relton back on his inside for the score.

Barton missed the conversion, but Exeter were now in the groove, as they looked to up the tempo. With Swansea’s lack of discipline allowing Exeter to build territory, Archie Hosking broke off the back of the scrum, to feed Tom Eelman, the centre racing through a gap, only to be hauled down a metre short. Exeter continued to pressure the Swansea defence with a series of carries from the forwards, but ultimately the visitors defence would win out.

After a superb breakdown turnover from Matt Cook, Barton kicked to touch, before the pack promptly drove over from twenty metres, Bury crashing over for his second of the afternoon.

HALF-TIME: EXETER UNIVERSITY 17-10 SWANSEA UNIVERSITY

In the second half, Swansea came out of the traps quickly, as they looked to pull themselves back into the match. Exeter’s defence stood firm though, allowing Josh Barton to clear the lines.

From the resulting lineout, Exeter drove up towards the Swansea 22, with Barton then fizzing the ball wide to Dan John. The centre burst down the wing, pirouetting to score one-handed, only for his foot to clip the touchline, denying him a sumptuous try.

Luke Bury then thought he was in for a hattrick from an overthrown Swansea lineout, only for the referee to spot a knock-on in the air from Exeter.

Despite that, EURFC continued to apply the pressure, Swansea hooker Garin Lloyd seeing yellow after repeated infringements at the breakdown, before the pack again drove over from the maul, Bury this time scoring his third try of the afternoon, profiting from the strength of the drive from the pack, Barton adding the conversion.

After the match, Bury admitted that Exeter had been disappointed with how their driving maul had functioned at times this season, so the success on an afternoon such as yesterday at Topsham, will have been a welcome return to form.

Swansea though, were not going to lie down easily, as they pounced on an Exeter handling error to drag themselves to within sight of the try line.

They continued to batter away at the Exeter line for nearly ten phases, before a crunching tackle from Tom Eelman forced a knock-on.
Exeter were in no mood to let up though, as they scored their fifth soon after.

From a set play off the lineout, Eelman and Barton combined to sent Dan John free down the wing. The centre then chipped over the top of the Swansea defence, for Relton to grubber kick through and ground for his second of the afternoon.

EURFC weren’t done yet though, as John finally got his try with a little over ten minutes of the match remaining.

As Swansea looked to clear upfield, Dafydd Jenkins charged down the box-kick, collecting one-handed and stepping past fly half Parks up to the Swansea 22. With Swansea’s defence at sixes and sevens, the ball was spun wide to Relton, who unselfishly drew the last defender and fed John for an easy run-in out wide.

There were opportunities in the final ten minutes, but that was to be the final scoring act of the match.

In challenging conditions, this was a strong performance from EURFC, with a number of players putting in strong shifts throughout.

Attention now turns to next Wednesday’s clash with Northumbria, as Exeter look to keep the pressure on at the top of the table.