THE Lions returned and Sam Simmonds burst out of the cage to resume where he left off last season.
The Premiership‘s record try-scorer, with 20 in the previous campaign, made up for lost time with two trademark tries after missing the opening three matches for rest and recu- peration.
Simmonds, Luke Cowan-Dickie and the giant lineout presence of Johnny Hill, on his 100th Chiefs appearance, bol- stered the pack and laid the foundation for a typi- cally dominant performance following two opening defeats and narrow win at Sale.
“They have come back and trained well,” said Exeter head coach Ali Hepher, “and in a couple of weeks you will see the best of these guys.
“You don’t get them for long before the Autumn Internationals so you have to utilise them while you can.”
Worcester‘s Scotland Lions Duhan van der Merwe and Rory Sutherland did not fare so well with the wingman spilling the ball twice in attacking positions and the prop being withdrawn after 52 minutes in which his pack made little impact.
Exeter made the Warriors pay for their errors as the visitors conceded too many penalties.
The trend was set as Worcester squandered their first two lineouts on the Exeter 22 and then they failed to get the ball away from the base of a scrum five metres from the Chiefs line.
Exeter had a lineout disrupted close to the Worcester line but they got it right the second time Henry Slade put a penalty into the corner. Worcester stopped Simmonds but could not repel the second wave and Dave Ewers drove in.
An over-throw by Cowan-Dickie cost Exeter another close-range opportunity but they again made amends as the penalty count against Worcester reached an alarming 8-3 after only half an hour.
The rampaging Ewers stretched the defence before Simmonds struck.
The Worcester errors spread to their attack when Van der Merwe and Ollie Lawrence bore down on Facundo Cordero, only for the Scotland winger to lose poassession as he attempted to find his centre.
When the Warriors finally got a lineout right inside the 22, Van der Merwe’s handling once again let him down.
The reprieve of a knockon advantage came to nothing as Worcester were again penalised at the breakdown and Slade’s immaculate deep touchfinder turned a wasted Worcester opportunity into an Exeter try.
Jonny Hill secured the lineout and Jack Maunder tried to jink his way through before Cordero raced in for the third try.
It took Exeter just three minutes of the second half to secure the bonus point as they moved the ball along the line before Richard Capstick released Cordero for his second try.
After Van der Merwe was penalised for not releasing the ball in the tackle Simmonds punished them by breaking two tackles and charging in for his second try.
As Rob Baxter emptied his bench Exeter remained in complete control and younger brother Joe Simmonds, who replaced Stuart Hogg, forced his way over for their sixth try.
Justin Clegg’s late try meant that Worcester did not go home pointless – unlike much of their error-strewn performance!
Exeter …………….42pts
Tries: Ewers 22, S Simmonds 33, 48; Cordero 40, 43; J Simmonds 75
Conversions: Slade 22, 33, 40, 43, 48; J Simmonds 75
EXETER: Hogg 6 (J Simmonds 56, 6); Cordero 8, Slade 7 (c) (Whitten 61, 6), Henrickson 6, O’Flaherty 6; H Skinner 6, J Maunder 6 (Hidalgo-Clyne 54, 6); Hepburn 6 (Keast 54, 6), Cowan-Dickie 7 (Innard 54, 7), Williams 6 (Iosefa-Scott 54, 6), Witty 7 (Skinner 56, 6), Hill 7, Ewers 8, Capstick 7, S Simmonds 8
Worcester ……….5pts
Tries: Clegg 78
WORCESTER: Shillcock 6; Heward 5 (Doel 52, 5), Morris 6, Lawrence 7, van der Merwe 5 (Butler 66, 5); Searle 6, Heinz (co-c) 6 (Chudley 50, 6); Sutherland 6 (Waller 52, 6), Baldwin 7 (co-c) (Annett 77), Judge 6 (Tyack 56, 6), Kitchener 6, Clegg 6, Hatherell 5 (Lewis 28, 6), Kvesic 6, Vailanu 5 (Batley 50, 6)
REFEREE: Tom Foley
ATTENDANCE: 12,627
Star man
Sam Simmonds – Exeter
The best betting sites
