Michael Cheika gets off to perfect start as Leicester Tigers steal dramatic late victory over Exeter Chiefs
Michael Cheika's will serve a two-game ban
Michael Cheika’s tenure as Leicester Tigers boss got off to the perfect start as his charges claimed a heroic 17-14 win over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.
Five points from the boot of Jamie Shillcock, alongside tries from Hanro Liebenberg and Tommy Reffell, ensured the 14-man Tigers left Sandy Park with the all-important four points to kick off their season.
There was little between the sides in the opening 15 minutes, with both teams trading half chances. For Exeter, Josh Hodge, Joe Hawkins and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso looked to break through the line, and Leicester retaliated with some barnstorming carries from Solomone Kata, but neither could deliver that killer blow.
Just as trench warfare set-in, Exeter injected some life into the game. A delicious inside pass from Greg Fisilau sent Italian international Ross Vintcent powering through the Leicester line, but he was stopped just meters from the line. After a couple of strong pick-and-goes, a crucial turnover from Leicester’s Olly Cracknell denied a certain try for the Chiefs.
Click here for the scorers
Exeter kept the pressure on though. After a string of penalties – which also saw Izaia Perese sent to the sin-bin – they thought they had scored through Scott Sio, but he was held up in the act of scoring. They nearly came straight back thanks to a Paul Brown-Bampoe break, but they couldn’t capitalise and Leicester again escaped.
With the clock winding down, Exeter blew a golden opportunity to take the lead. A well-worked move through the backline found the ball in Feyi-Waboso’s hands, and he broke down the wing to create a two-on-one with Olly Woodburn, but the England international couldn’t connect with him and the chance went begging.
It quickly came back to haunt them too. With the clock in the red, Leicester fly-half Shillcock knocked over a cheeky drop-goal to give the Tigers a surprising 3-0 lead going into the sheds.
After weathering a Leicester bombardment at the start of the second-half, Exeter got themselves on the scoreboard through Fisilau. A cute offload from Hawkins sent Feyi-Waboso scampering through a gap, and this time he did make the pivotal offload as he connected with the number eight to send him coasting in for the try.
This try again breathed some life into the contest, and it wasn’t long before Exeter got their second as Tom Cairns sneaked over from the base of a ruck.
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A string of Exeter penalties matched the Tigers deep into enemy territory, and they made this count with their opening try of the game. A powerful driving maul motored towards the Exeter line at a rate of knots, and it allowed Liebenberg to flop over the whitewash.
The game quickly flipped on it’s head in the final 10 minutes as Leicester centre Kata was shown a red card for a high tackle. From the resulting penalty, Exeter pinned Leicester back into their own five-metre line, but as had happened for much of the game a crucial turnover denied Exeter the chance to pounce.
Despite being down a man, Leicester kept themselves in the arm wrestle, and gave it one last throw of the dice. A late yellow card to Will Haydon-Wood restored numerical parity with the clock in the red and Leicester set up camp in Exeter’s five meter.
After an onslaught of pick-and-goes, Welsh international Tommy Reffell powered his way over to give them the all-important winning score, ensuring the perfect start to Cheika’s reign as Tigers boss.
Teams
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 13 Ben Hammersley 12 Joe Hawkins 11 Olly Woodburn 10 Harvey Skinner 9 Niall Armstrong 8 Greg Fisilau 7 Ross Vintcent 6 Ethan Roots 5 Richard Capstick 4 Rusi Tuima 3 Ehren Painter 2 Dan Frost 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott 19 Jack Dunne 20 Christ Tshiunza 21 Tom Cairns 22 Will Haydon-Wood 23 Paul Brown-Bampoe
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Kyle Hatherell, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 4 Harry Wells, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Charlie Clare, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobald-Thomas, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Côme Joussain, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Dan Kelly
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: George Selwood, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose