FIRST TEAM
EXETER CHIEFS 34 NEWCASTLE RED BULLS 28
Newcastle Red Bulls had to console themselves with a pair of bonus points on Sunday following another battling Gallagher PREM showing at Exeter Chiefs.
The Red Bulls led 21-19 at half-time but got off to a nightmare start, finding themselves a try down inside a minute when Italy flanker Ross Vintcent scored from a charged-down clearance kick.
Henry Slade added the conversion, but the sides were level three minutes later when Christian Wade collected a floated pass to score in the right corner.
Zack Henry’s conversion flew safely between the posts, but the home side edged back ahead when Vintcent scampered down the right tramlines for an unconverted try.
The see-saw scoring pattern continued as Wade turned provider, the Newcastle wing delaying his pass beautifully to feed Max Hicks for a run-in at the right corner.
Henry’s touchline conversion put the Red Bulls ahead by two points, and their defensive line-out was to the fore as Exeter twice kicked penalties to the corner only to lose the resulting set-piece.
The Chiefs were back ahead on the quarter mark, however, when Slade dummied and darted down the right wing for his side’s third try – the centre converting his own score.
His side were reduced to 14 men for ten minutes when Ethan Roots was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle – a moment which saw Jake Dalziel become Newcastle’s youngest ever PREM player as he replaced Harrison Obatoyinbo aged just 18 years and 54 days.
The young Scot almost created a try with his first touch when his cross-field kick only marginally eluded the chasing Werner Kok in the left corner, but he succeeded on 36 minutes after when his show-and-go helped put Christian Wade through a hole.
Henry’s conversion put Newcastle in front by two, and they maintained their 21-19 advantage at the interval thanks to their defensive maul – Exeter once again kicking to the corner and drawing a blank from the set-piece.
The home side regained the momentum four minutes after the resumption, playing advantage to good effect and chalking up the four-try bonus point when full-back Sam Harris crossed for a converted score in the left corner.
But it was not long before the Red Bulls responded, Wade completing his hat-trick when he hacked ahead and won the 40-metre foot race to the bouncing ball.
Henry’s conversion put the visitors up by two once more, and it took a TMO intervention for the lead to remain in place after 54 minutes when Stephen Varney’s sniping try was pulled back for a forward pass earlier in the move.
They did manage to get ahead once again when Slade sent over a 40-metre penalty following a lengthy advantage, and the game was settled four minutes from time when a maul in the left corner saw replacement prop Bachuki Tchumbadze scoring from a driving maul.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Sam Harris (Zack Wimbush, 58), 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Butt, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Ethan Burger (Will Goodrick-Clarke, 50), 2 Jack Yeandle (Louie Gulley, 60), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott (Bachuki Tchumbadze, 50), 4 Harry Wilson, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 6 Ethan Roots, 7 Ross Vintcent, 8 Greg Fisilau (Kane James, 58).
Scorers - Tries: Ross Vintcent 2, Henry Slade, Sam Harris, Bachuki Tchumbadze. Conversions: Henry Slade 3. Penalties: Henry Slade.
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Harrison Obatoyinbo (Jake Dalziel, 27), 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Zack Henry, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz (James Elliott, 57); 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones (Adam Brocklebank, 48), 2 Zuriel Togiatama (Samson Adejimi, 56), 3 Elliot Millar Mills (James Harper, 48), 4 Oscar Usher (Franco Molina, 44), 5 Cam Jordan, 6 Max Hicks, 7 Tom Christie (captain, Sam Graham, 68), 8 Hoskins Sotutu (Ollie Leatherbarrow, 48).
Scorers - Tries: Christian Wade 3, Max Hicks. Conversions: Zack Henry 4.
Referee: George Selwood. Attendance: 7,071.
