Danny Cipriani injured as Exeter back with a bang

Editor

With their Champions Cup qualification hopes hanging by a thread before kick-off, Exeter rolled up their sleeves to beat Gloucester 29-17 on Friday.

It wasn’t always pretty on the eye but the Chiefs stuck to their guns and brushed the Cherry and Whites aside with their power game at Kingsholm.

Tries from Sam Skinner, Don Armand, Jack Yeandle and Harry Williams saw them to the five points as Gloucester, who lost Danny Cipriani to injury late in the first-half, could not back up last week’s victory at Sandy Park. Their try scorers were Jason Woodward and Tom Hudson.

The result leaves Exeter second and Gloucester third in Pool 2, with both sitting on eight points, three behind Munster who face Castres on Saturday.

Exeter were clearly rattled after suffering back-to-back defeats in all competitions coming into the match and looked determined to stop that rot, with flank Armand sending a message to a watching England head coach Eddie Jones with a physical showing that put Exeter on the front foot.

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Their scrum too created points to their tally as Gloucester felt the full effects of a team upset with their Champions Cup efforts to date. The formidable set-piece was a knife to the side of the Cherry and Whites and ultimately resulted in a yellow card after repeated offences.

Exeter will now take great confidence back into the Premiership‘s festive fixtures while Gloucester will hope Cipriani’s injury is not too serious as they appeared to sorely miss his playmaking and running game in the second period.

The other match taking place on Friday saw Ulster beat Scarlets 30-15, completing back-to-back wins over the Welsh side. Iain Henderson (2), Jacob Stockdale and John Cooney crossed to make it a bonus-point victory that puts them level with Racing 92 ahead of the weekend’s games.

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