Highlights: Gloucester vs Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs began their Premiership title defence with a defeat as a last-gasp try from Jason Woodward gave Gloucester a 28-21 win on Friday, ending the champions’ 17-match unbeaten run in thrilling fashion.
The Chiefs overcame Wasps to claim victory in last season’s final, but they were denied at least a share of the spoils in the final seconds at Kingsholm as Gloucester prevailed in Johan Ackermann’s first game in charge.
Exeter number eight Sam Simmonds and Gloucester lock Jeremy Thrush traded doubles in the first half, their tries converted by Gareth Steenson and Billy Burns respectively as the two sides went in level at 14-14 at half-time.
Steenson was sin-binned two minutes after the restart for a late tackle on Woodward, but Gloucester were unable to capitalise on their 10-minute numerical advantage.
Ben Morgan gave Gloucester the lead for the first time in the contest in the 56th minute, only to be pegged back nine minutes from time when Olly Woodburn stole the ball from Ollie Thorley and raced down the left to touch down.
Centre Henry Slade converted and had the chance to seal the points with a late penalty following a Gloucester infraction at the scrum, but he pulled his kick wide of the far upright.
Gloucester then worked their way up to the Exeter 22 and, after the ball had been spilled backwards, Billy Twelvetrees found a gap in the defence and offloaded for Woodward to finish out wide to secure a bonus-point win.
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I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
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