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Joe Simmonds left dazed as Exeter brush aside 14-man London Irish
Reigning champions Exeter moved to within one point of leaders Bristol at the top of the Gallagher Premiership table with a comfortable 26-3 victory over London Irish at a freezing Sandy Park. Injury-ravaged Irish battled throughout to frustrate their opponents and it was not until after their replacement hooker Motu Matu’u was dismissed that Chiefs were able to secure their bonus point.
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Sam Simmonds scored two of Exeter’s tries to take his tally to eleven for the season. Alex Cuthbert and Dave Ewers scored the others, with Joe Simmonds converting two and Harvey Skinner one. A penalty from Paddy Jackson was London Irish’s sole response.
It took Exeter only three minutes to take the lead, with Sam Simmonds forcing his way over from close range after surges from Alec Hepburn and Ewers had put the visitors’ defence on the back foot. Exeter soon had a second try when a strong run from Cuthbert secured Chiefs a platform in the Irish 22 before Ewers finished off a lineout drive with the opposition having little idea as to how to prevent it.
Irish suffered a further setback when centre Curtis Rona departed with an injury as the tempo of the game was disrupted by frequent delays for treatment for his side’s players. Lock Rob Simmons was the visitors’ second injury casualty as he left the field for a head assessment, swiftly followed by full-back James Stokes in similar circumstances.
After 29 minutes, Jackson put Irish onto the scoreboard with a straightforward penalty before Australia scrum-half Nick Phipps came on to play on the wing as his side had elected to put only two backs on the bench. With wind advantage in their favour, Exeter must have been frustrated at the stop-start nature of proceedings as Irish kept their line intact for the last 25 minutes of the first half to trail only 14-3 at the interval.
Sam Simmonds has scored 52 tries in 76 Test, Premiership and Champions Cup games compared to Billy Vunipola's 32 tries in 208…
– Yet Simmonds is playing on Saturday at Sandy Park while Vunipola runs out at Twickenham with England ?#SixNations #ENGvITAhttps://t.co/VjIpqY4UpY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 13, 2021
In the last move of the first half, Joe Simmonds was left dazed after attempting to tackle powerful Irish number eight Albert Tuisue and the outside half did not return after the interval. Within three minutes of the restart, Exeter collected their third try when Cuthbert brushed aside some weak tackling to run 35 metres and score.
The Welsh wing then gave way to Ian Whitten, who was himself replaced after a head-high tackle from Matu’u saw him dismissed. The Chiefs immediately capitalised with Sam Simmonds crashing over for his second score.
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'BT – who have paid £110m for the rights – will be involved in thrashing out what comes next for the professional game in England with suggestions the “no relegation” option could stay in place for four years' https://t.co/PQlsl15UID pic.twitter.com/uoethqPnn8
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 13, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
1 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
7 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
3 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to comments