Exeter Chiefs: Five takeaways as ‘brutal’ Ross Vintcent shines in ‘gutsy’ pre-season win
Rob Baxter will have plenty of food for thought ahead of the regular season
Exeter Chiefs ended their pre-season block with a gutsy 31-15 victory over URC outfit Ulster on Saturday.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Devonians, who had to fight hard to secure the win, but they now head into Leicester with three wins from four in pre-season.
Here are our five key takeaways from the press box at Sandy Park.
The top line
Jacques Vermeulen got things off to a good start with an early score, but they had to wait until the second-half for the real show to begin. Efforts from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Paul Brown-Bampoe, Olly Woodburn and Jack Dunne ultimately steered the Chiefs to a solid 31-15 win.
Pre-season is about testing out combinations and building some steady momentum into the regular campaign, and Exeter have probably done that.
Rob Baxter has deployed some new combinations across his four pre-season fixtures, and tried out multiple styles of play as well; and these have in-turn delivered three wins from four.
Guess who’s back, back again
Exeter welcomed back international trio Feyi-Waboso, Ross Vintcent and Christ Tshiunza to the match-day squad, and they certainly made an impact on the game.
Vintcent came from relative obscurity last season but, if today’s showing is anything to go by, he will be a crucial cog in Exeter’s back-row. He was more than willing to get his hands on the ball and quickly became his side’s main operator in the tight with some brutal carries. Brought heaps of physicality in defence too.
The breakthrough star last year, Feyi-Waboso, also gave a decent account of himself back in Exeter colours after a sensational summer. He looked a constant threat out wide and had the defenders on strings for the most part. His try-scoring antics at Test level also carried over to Sandy Park, as he crossed early in the second-half, and could easily have had another.
Wales international Tshiunza also returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and will be much better for the exposure.
Selection headaches in the backline
Rob Baxter now has plenty of food for thought heading into the regular season, with competition rife across the backline.
Exeter’s midfield seemed a problem area heading into this pre-season block, with both Henry Slade and new recruit Tamati Tua both ruled out of the start of the campaign, but Baxter now faces some genuinely tough calls in this department.
Joe Hawkins seems a much more confident player now after a difficult debut season and he looked particularly busy today. He appeared to have put on some more bulk (in a good way) this pre-season, which has made him much more powerful in the contact area and allowed him to be that crash-ball option Exeter like to run at 12. In addition to this, he has retained his playmaking skills, and combined well with the likes of Harvey Skinner and Ben Hammersley.
Speaking of Hammersley, he was once again a real handful at 13. His speed and power make him a handful anyways but, with him shifting into 13, he is getting himself into slightly different spaces, which in turn is allowing him to slice through the line.
Will Rigg also looked in fine touch on his arrival, and added some real strike to their backline too.
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Wing will continue to be a big selection issue for Exeter and with Feyi-Waboso in the squad, you’d imagine there’s only one place up for grabs. Brown-Bampoe once again got himself on the scoresheet with a nice effort and the ever-impressive Olly Woodburn looked sharp in most areas of his game, and he also notched a well-deserved score.
Discipline kills
Exeter’s ill-discipline allowed Ulster a foothold into the contest and it nearly saw them take the win. A string of four penalties, mostly for offside, established the field position for Aaron Sexton’s opener, and they were also pinged for infringements at the breakdown.
It was ill-discipline that was the issue in the second-half, too, with cheap penalties allowing Ulster to set up camp in Exeter’s five-metre line repeatedly and cross for two tries.
They cannot afford to let this become a part of their game this season. With the competitiveness in the Premiership, discipline could be the difference between the teams at the top of the table, so if Exeter want to be a top four side they need to iron this out of their game quickly.
Injuries
Pre-season always comes with a set of risks and unfortunately Jacques Vermeulen was taken off in the second-half with a knock to his knee. He was phenomenal up to then so this possible injury could be a huge blow to Baxter’s side.
