Planet Rugby

Exeter topple Wasps

01st December 2012 19:18

Haydn Thomas Exeter v Wasps 2012

Tough battle: Exeter v Wasps

Exeter maintained their unbeaten home record when they beat Wasps 30-23 in a Premiership match at Sandy Park on Saturday.

The two sides matched each other point for point in an evenly-contested first half, with Gareth Steenson and Lee Thomas on target with two penalties apiece and four tries scored in all.

Young centre Elliot Daly produced an excellent burst of pace to score in the right-hand corner for the visitors early on after good work by Billy Vunipola.

But, after Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson was sent to the sin bin, the Chiefs took advantage of their extra man to hit back as hooker Chris Whitehead rumbled over from short range.

And the match continued to see-saw back and forth as the Londoners' two speedsters combined to give them the lead again. Christian Wade picked up a loose ball and fed fellow winger Tom Varndell to sprint away and score.

They couldn't hold on to their advantage though and Exeter made sure they went into the interval level at 20-20 thanks to a smart break from the base of the scrum by scrum-half Haydn Thomas.

An early sinbinning in the second half for Daly didn't help Wasps' cause but, apart from conceding three points from Steenson's boot, the visitors defended stoutly during their second ten-minute spell with 14 men.

The Chiefs dominated possession and spent concerted periods camped on the opposition line though and, just as Daly was re-entering the fray, a clever chip from Luke Arscott found Phil Dollman for the crucial try.

Wasps didn't give in and replacement Tommy Bell secured them a losing bonus point with three points late on but it is the Chiefs who march on up the table with a fifth successive victory in all competitions.

The scorers:

For Exeter:
Tries: Whitehead, Thomas, Dollman
Pen: Steenson 3
Con: Steenson 2, Dollman

For Wasps:
Tries: Daly, Varndell
Pen: L Thomas 2, Bell
Con: L Thomas 2
Yellow card: Simpson (26 mins), Daly (50 mins)

Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 3 Carl Rimmer, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Hoani Tui, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Tom Johnson, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Sireli Naqelevuki.

Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Phil Swainston, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Zak Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Will Taylor, 19 James Cannon, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Andrea Masi.

Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Gareth Copsey
Timekeeper: Eric Bullion

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