For today’s Throwback Thursday we go back just two seasons, to Saturday February 10 2018, when Warriors stunned defending Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs with a narrow victory – their only one to date at Sandy Park
Exeter Chiefs 5 Warriors 6
Warriors upset the apple cart by condemning the reigning champions to their first home defeat of the season, beating Exeter for the first time in Aviva Premiership Rugby after 11 failed attempts thanks to two first half penalties from Chris Pennell.
A cagey opening saw both teams struggle to hit their stride, with the scores remaining level right through until the 21st minute when Pennell put Warriors 3-0 up.
The full-back was handed the opportunity to kick for goal from well over 40 metres and held his nerve to bisect the posts.
Shortly afterwards, Pennell was at the thick of the action again as he combined with Jackson Willison but a promising Warriors break fell apart as Luke Cowan-Dickie intercepted a loose pass.
Exeter’s first real offensive of note came with eight minutes of the first period to go, Sam Hill helping attempt to tee up Olly Woodburn but the hosts were unable to force their way over in the corner.
With the final action of the first period, Pennell slotted away another penalty to make it 6-0 and the visitors burst out of the blocks after the restart and earned themselves another kick at goal but Pennell was off-target this time.
The Chiefs finally awoke from their slumber and found a way through the Worcester bulwark, the maul driving its way over the line for Mitch Lees to dot down in the 57th minute, but Gareth Steenson’s missed conversion attempt would prove costly.
From there, the hosts turned the screw as they attempted to avoid an upset but Warriors battled for every yard and ultimately did enough to pull off a memorable victory.
“It was unbelievable and incredible as we managed to operate the key factors in our game plan brilliantly,” said Warriors Director of Rugby Alan Solomons.
“We had to match them physically and our defence was outstanding as we knew we had to take the game in periods of 20 minutes at a time.
“We showed terrific heart as they hold the ball for long passages of play but we thoroughly deserved the win.”
Warriors | 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Francois Hougaard, 1 Ethan Waller, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Nick Schonert, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (C), 5 Darren Barry, 6 Alafoti Faosiliva, 7 Sam Lewis, 8 GJ Van Velze.
Replacements | 16 Craig Haupt, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Anton Bresler, 20 Matti Williams, 21 Matt Cox, 22 Luke Baldwin, 23 Tom Howe.