32 - 48HT 18 - 17

Sixways
Att 8,783
Sat 18 Feb 17, 3:00pm

REPORT | Warriors 32-48 Exeter Chiefs

A Jackson Willison try at the death gave Warriors a try bonus point and moved them another point away from the bottom of the Aviva Premiership table after a frantic game of attacking rugby at Sixways.

Josh Adams opened the scoring inside the first five minutes before Gareth Steenson levelled.

Perry Humphreys’ finish in the corner put Warriors in the driving seat once again before James Short grabbed Exeter’s second.

Ryan Mills and Steenson finished off the scoring in the first-half courtesy of penalties as the sides turned around with Warriors 18-17 ahead.

The afternoon took a turn for the worse after the break as Alafoti Faosiliva was sent to the sin-bin and Exeter caused havoc amongst the home defence from there on in.

Olly Woodburn, Short and Carl Rimmer all added further scores for the visitors before Bryce Heem pulled one back for the hosts on the hour mark.

But Exeter ensured there would be no comeback for the hosts as Michele Campagnaro added a fifth and Short grabbed his hat-trick late on before Willison grounded.

Gary Gold made two changes to the side which defeated Saracens last time out as Dewald Potgieter and Jaba Bregvadze both returned to the starting line-up.

Exeter arrived in Worcester off the back of a 35-35 draw with Wasps and the scoring started early at Sixways as the hosts took the lead within the first five minutes.

The home side recycled the ball as they made good ground forward and Adams eventually found a gap to finish from close range. Ryan Mills converted as the hosts raced to a 7-0 lead.

Warriors were looking to take their second major scalp in a week after seeing off champions Saracens last weekend but held their lead for barely three minutes before Exeter showed the first glimpse of their attacking prowess.

Steenson found space in the Warriors midfield and raced to the line after a fine attacking move from the visitors.

The scoring continued after Steenson converted his own try as Mills struck his first penalty of the afternoon to nudge his side in front once again as play moved from end-to-end.

Warriors, too, were intent on illustrating their attacking potency and soon had their second try of the afternoon as Adams turned provider to tee-up Humphreys, who finished in the corner.

Mills was once again looking to put Warriors into good territory with his kicking game and the hosts’ game management was superb throughout the first-half.

But Exeter seldom fail to create chances and they constantly looked to cause the Warriors defence problems.

And Short soon continued his fine scoring run against Warriors by touching down in the corner just before the half hour mark to reduce the hosts’ lead to 15-14 before Mills and Steenson exchanged penalties.

Exeter started the second-half strongly as they piled the pressure on the hosts and went ahead for the first time as Woodburn touched down in the corner after Faosiliva had been yellow carded.

And Rob Baxter’s men followed that up with a bonus-point fourth try moments later as Short showed exquisite footwork to evade three defenders before racing to the line.

Slade converted to give Exeter a 29-18 victory as Warriors suddenly found themselves up against it.

Warriors were struggling to repel Exeter as they pushed forward time after time. And the Devon side soon had another try as Rimmer found himself at the bottom of a driving maul to ground.

The hosts refused to give up as they continued to battle forward and claw back some points.

And Warriors had a third try on the hour mark as Heem raced forward before somehow managing to barge his way through a melee of players to the tryline.

Mills converted but Exeter were relentless in attack and replied with a sixth try almost instantly as Campagnaro sidestepped Heem before running in underneath the posts.

Slade’s conversion put the visitors 43-25 ahead as the game got away from Warriors and Short finished Gold’s men off by completing his hat-trick with seven minutes remaining.

Willison did send Warriors supporters away with something to smile about though as his try at the death ensured the hosts claimed a try bonus point.

Warriors | 15 Josh Adams, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Perry Humphreys (Howard 61), 10 Ryan Mills (Lamb 68), 9 Francois Hougaard (Baldwin 68), 1 Ryan Bower (Leleimalefaga 55), 2 Jaba Bregvadze (Taufete’e 55), 3 Nick Schonert (Alo 69), 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (Cavubati 61), 5 Will Spencer, 6 Chris Vui, Dewald Potgieter (Lewis 63), 8 Alafoti Faosiliva

Replacements |16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Na’ama Leleimalefaga, 18 Biyi Alo, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard

Timeline
4m | Adams try 5-0
5m | Mills con 7-0
7m | Steenson try 7-5
8m | Steenson con 7-7
9m | Mills pen 10-7
14m | Humphreys try 15-7
27m | Short try 15-12
28m | Steenson con 15-14
36m | Mills pen 18-14
39m | Steenson pen 18-17
45m | Woodburn try 18-22
48m | Short try 18-27
49m | Slade con 18-29
54m | Rimmer try 18-34
55m | Slade con 18-36
60m | Heem try 23-36
61m| Mills con 25-36
62m | Campagnaro try 25-41
63m | Slade con 25-43
73m | Short try 25-48
80m | Willison try 30-48
80m | Lamb con 32-48


Competition: Aviva Premiership Rugby
Venue: Sixways
Referee: JP Doyle
Game Type: Home
Fixture Round: 15
Attendance: 8,783
No. Name T C D P
15 Phill Dollman
14 Olly Woodburn 1T
13 Michele Campagnaro 1T
12 Henry Slade 3C
11 James Short 3T
10 Gareth Steenson 1T 2C 1P
9 Jack Maunder
1 Ben Moon
2 Shaun Malton
3 Harry Williams
4 Mitch Lees
5 Geoff Parling
6 Dave Dennis
7 Don Armand
8 Sam Simmonds 1T
Replacements
16 Elvis Taione
17 Carl Rimmer
18 Tomas Francis
19 Sam Skinner
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 Stu Townsend
22 Ian Whitten
23 Lachie Turner

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