mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Bath beat Exeter Chiefs 40-34 in a pulsating West Country derby at the Rec that took them top of the Gallagher Prem table, but they were forced to fight to the end in an 11-try thriller.
Exeter trailed 26-10 at the interval but took a 33-31 lead midway through the second half before scrum-half Stephen Varney’s yellow card eventually proved decisive.
Cam Redpath, Dan du Preez, Bernard van der Linde, Ted Hill and Finn Russell scored Bath’s tries. A penalty was awarded and Russell converted four.
The hugely impressive Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored two tries for Exeter alongside Jack Yeandle, Josh Iosefa-Scott and Varney. Henry Slade converted three and Harvey Skinner added a late penalty.
Bath took control when first Redpath intercepted a pass from Skinner and ran 50 meters to score before Van der Linde slotted through a gap in the visitors’ defense for an individual try. Russell converted both to give his team a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Exeter badly needed a response and they got it thanks to a strong run from Feyi-Waboso. First he eluded Ollie Lawrence’s tackle to put the defense on the back foot and when the ball was recycled he went past two more tacklers with Varney on hand for a touchdown.
The hosts scored their third try when they capitalized on a favorable half-way bounce and Vvan der Linde and Ewan Richards capitalized to give Du Preez the chance to slot over from close range, but Bath wasted the kick-off and Yeandle managed to keep his side in contention with a try from outside.
However, as half-time approached, Bath mounted a period of pressure which culminated in Russell fumbling his way to a bonus-point try before converting for a 26-10 interval lead.
Exeter started the second half strongly and were rewarded with two tries in quick succession. First Iosefa-Scott crashed over from close range before Feyi-Waboso took his chance in style by denying two would-be attackers. Slade converted both and his side were back in the contest with just two points between the teams.
Exeter took the lead for the first time when ex-Bath player Will Butt split the hosts apart to allow Feyi-Waboso to make an easy run for his second try.
The home side were soon awarded a penalty, Varney booked for a deliberate knock, and in the absence of half-time, Hill made his way over the try-line.
Slade badly missed his penalty attempt so Skinner took over and his success resulted Bosses two well-deserved bonus points from the match.
