Exeter vow to send strongest side to Pretoria for second leg

Exeter head coach Ali Hepher says the Chiefs are in “a pleasing position” after underlining their Heineken Champions Cup credentials with a 44-14 victory over the Bulls.

It was Exeter’s second successive bonus-point win in this season’s tournament and left them strongly placed to progress from Pool A when the group stage concludes next month.

“Starting out in this competition, if you can get to 10 points by the break, we are obviously in a pleasing position,” Hepher said.

“Coming off the back of an emotional performance last week (against Castres), I am pleased with how the boys rocked up and got the job done.

“It’s pretty straightforward. You have four incredibly tough games and every point is crucial.

“To get an away bonus-point last week and to back it up today was important.”

Captain Luke Cowan-Dickie’s scored three tries at Sandy Park and there were also touchdowns for flanker Dave Ewers, who was yellow carded late in the game, centre Henry Slade and substitute Solomone Kata.

South African challengers the Bulls claimed a five-point maximum in defeating Lyon last weekend, but they had no answer to Exeter’s forward power and set-piece excellence.

The Chiefs, European champions in 2020, were out of sight by the break as fly-half Joe Simmonds added four conversions and two penalties.

And the Bulls, despite an early try by wing Stravino Jacobs and centre Chris Smith’s second-half effort, both converted by fly-half Morne Steyn, could find no way back into a one-sided encounter.

This season’s competition has already been notable for some clubs not selecting full-strength sides.

Hepher, though, said Exeter intend travelling with their strongest available team for the Bulls return fixture in Pretoria next month.

“That’s the plan, yes,” he added. “We view this competition very highly and the players worked very hard last season to get into it.

“They want to be in this competition and playing in it.

“We want to give the guys the experiences they deserve, pitching themselves against the best teams in the world, really. That’s where it needs to be.

“We have a high regard for the competition and we want to be successful in it.”

Hepher, meanwhile, had high praise for Ewers, who also shone in the 27-12 success against Castres seven days ago.

Ewers scored tries in both games and Hepher said: “He has been incredibly impressive. He can shift, he can defend, he understands the game very well. There is a very good package there.

“When he is on the field, he brings you a physical presence, which you need against these guys.”

Bulls boss Jake White, meanwhile, urged tournament organisers to make the competition more “travel friendly”.

White left 21 players in South Africa ahead of a United Rugby Championship game against the Cape Town-based Stormers next Friday, with the squad used in Devon facing the long journey home on Sunday.

“The people who organise this competition will have to look at how they can make it more travel friendly,” White said.

The Bulls schedule does not let up in January, though, tackling the Dragons in Newport on January 6 before hosting Exeter eight days later and then visiting Lyon six days after that.