Exeter v Bath: Five takeaways as England hopeful ‘lays down a marker’ on day Chiefs signal ‘full return’ to previous standards
Len Ikitau congratulated by Exeter Chiefs team-mates after try against Bath.
Following a 35-12 victory for Exeter Chiefs over Bath in the PREM Rugby clash on Sunday, here’s our five takeaways from the game at Sandy Park.
A statement at the right moment
A howling wind blowing right down the ground made this contest a game of chess, and Exeter played the better long game to take their most significant win of the season and dismantled the league’s form team and reigning champions in the process.
Bath, well below their usual standards, lost Quinn Roux to a 20-minute red, leaked a yellow to Tom de Glanville, racked up 18 handling errors, and never found rhythm. The bonus-point margin was earned, and, importantly, the implications, on a weekend when Northampton fell at Welford Road, are seismic.
The picture entering the round looked grim for Exeter with three defeats on the bounce, the chasing pack closing, momentum stalling. Going through 80 minutes against second-placed Bath and emerging with five points reframes everything. The bonus point, sealed by Campbell Ridl’s late try, is the difference between holding off Bristol and Saracens and being dragged into a final-day scramble. Baxter described the run-in as four knockout games in his pre-match notes and this is the first is in the bank.
The wider table is now wide open. Northampton’s loss to Leicester on Saturday means the top three are within touching distance, and Bath’s defeat means second place is genuinely live. Exeter, fourth before kick-off, can look upwards rather than over their shoulder. For a club that finished ninth last season, this performance, in this game, with this much on the line, signals a full return to the standards Baxter has spent two seasons rebuilding. Comfortably the biggest performance of their campaign.
Iosefa-Scott, a tighthead’s day to remember
Tightheads do not normally do what Josh Iosefa-Scott did at Sandy Park. His recall over Bachuki Tchumbadze had raised eyebrows but 80 minutes later, the Player of the Match call was a formality. He finished with carry numbers most back-rowers would envy, was central to the early try that put Exeter 13-0 up, and produced the moment of the match with a no-look offload that sent Len Ikitau crashing over for the third score.
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He scrummaged with menace, cleared with discipline, and barely missed a beat in the loose. Iosefa-Scott did all of it for 70-plus minutes against a front-row stacked with international caps. The line about props evolving into ball-players is well worn and usually overstated but on this evidence, the fashion has caught up with the man. Bath could not handle him. Exeter’s bonus-point victory was built, in significant part, on his shift and with England less than stacked in the three shirt, he’s laid a marker down exactly when it was needed.
Recruitment paying back
Exeter’s rebuild has rested on smart signings and Sunday was the day they announced themselves collectively. Stephen Varney was the orchestrator throughout, sharp at the base, decisive with the boot, the conductor behind every passage of attacking quality.
The case for him as the Prem signing of the season grows by the round. Ikitau, scoring his first try in Chiefs colours, was physically dominant in midfield from the first whistle, the gainline carry through phases and the finisher when the chance came.
Andrea Zambonin worked the engine room alongside Dafydd Jenkins, and Tom Hooper, fresh from his return south, was relentless across the 80. Even Ridl, whose try sealed the bonus point, has been a revelation since his arrival. Baxter has talked all season about the depth he wants to build. When the four signings he leant on most were the four names driving the result, the recruitment thesis stops being a pitch and starts becoming evidence.
Bath well below their own bar
18 handling errors, a red card and a yellow card. A backline that, particularly in midfield, repeatedly pulled out of defensive shape, and one that at times seemed intent on making schoolboy handling errors. Bath have set a standard over two seasons that makes Sunday’s performance an outlier rather than a trend, but an outlier all the same. Roux’s red, harsh but correctly officiated, was a key moment in defining the game. De Glanville’s deliberate knock-on yellow followed and to compound matters, and, in defence, Ollie Lawrence continued his habit drifting in and biting off his man, a habit that hurt them against Bordeaux, and kept hurting them at Sandy Park.
The shining exception was the back-row. Sam Underhill was outstanding in defence, including a huge turnover that should have been a momentum pivot. Ted Hill stole at lineout, hunted at the breakdown, was everywhere in the wider channels. Alfie Barbeary stepped up after Roux went off, finishing on 16 tackles, 14 carries and 45 metres. Three forwards, three towering shifts. Without them this would have been a thrashing.
However, to add injury to insult, literally, Roux’s potential facial fracture, with the run-in still to come, hands Johann van Graan a fresh problem and will test even the depth of the well-resourced Bath squad.
Chess in the wind, and a referee on top of his brief
The wind, by full-time, may have been the most influential player on the pitch. It demanded smart kicking, good aerial options, and patience for passages when running rugby was off. Exeter, with the wind in the first half, made the wrong choice repeatedly. They went contestable rather than corner, lost the aerial battle, and watched Bath exit cleanly from territory the Chiefs should have controlled. By half time, Bath had outscored Exeter five points to nil during Roux’s 20-minute red, a damning summary of how the man advantage was wasted, and it seemed that the visitors would kick on with the wind at their backs.
But as Bath responded with the kicking option Exeter failed to use. And Ben Spencer, the best kicker in the league when conditions permit, hammered the ball into the wind for chase platforms, it came all to nought and Bath expect more in terms of match influence from their half-back pairing.
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Instead, it was Chiefs’ ability to retain possession and get through error free phases, and break with brilliance on the transition from Bath’s errors that won the match. It’s telling that Exeter’s final kicking metres tally read 379 to Bath’s 629, an asymmetry that reflected Bath chasing and contesting and Exeter not committing fully to territory, rather more so prepared to keep ball in hand.
As a footnote, in an era where ref baiting is a Prem fan pastime, it’s worth mentioning Karl Dickson was outstanding throughout, calm with both card decisions and the pen-only call on Underhill’s late high tackle.