Exeter proved their 11-try thumping of the reigning Premiership champion Saracens on the first day of the season wasn’t an anomaly as they defeated last season’s beaten finalists Sale 43-0.
Exeter’s new young guard demonstrated once again that they are a force to be reckoned with, even though they lost a number of international players over the summer.
Despite entering the game having won their opening two games of the season, Sale seemed strangely out of sorts as they suffered their worst-ever loss to the Devon team thanks to a series of mistakes.
Exeter got off to a dream start with a try inside the first two minutes. An initial surge by hooker Dan Frost earned a penalty, which was quickly taken, and England Under-20 number eight Greg Fisilau finished off on the blindside, with captain for the day Henry Slade slotting a superb conversion.
The England centre added a penalty soon after to put the Chiefs into double figures.
Sale had the wind behind their backs in the first half, but it was the Chiefs who continued to dominate territory, and they notched a second try just before the midway point of the half, with a catch-and-drive effort from Frost, after Chiefs did well to splinter Sale’s maul defence, and it was improved by Slade.
Young full-back Tom Wyatt was proving rock solid under the high ball for Exeter, while their scrum was having much the better of the Sale eight.
The Sharks thought they had got a foothold in the game when Cobus Wiese drove over in the 27th minute, but he was adjudged by excellent debutant referee Joe James to have been held up, while Tom O’Flaherty knocked on soon after when trying to ground the ball after a handling mistake close to his own line by Fisilau.
Exeter made the most of that double reprieve by securing the try-scoring bonus point before half-time.
Tight-head prop Josh Iosefa-Scott finished off another driving maul in the corner, and then Slade latched on to a wayward Sale pass to send former Wasps winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso racing over beneath the posts, with Slade adding the conversion for an incredible 29-0 interval advantage.
In the second half, with the weather damp, neither team was able to put together long plays.
The Chiefs defense proved to be superior when Sale did pose a danger to the home line.
With a penalty try to cap off their dominant scrum, Exeter completed their first Premiership shutout since 2014. The Chiefs added the cherry on top with an outstanding run by impressive second row Lewis Pearson, who offloaded to replacement scrum-half Niall Armstrong to run in try number five. Slade added the kick for a personal 11-point haul.
Leave a Reply