Chiefs enjoying life on the road for once

By ROGER PANTING

Bristol ……………………………14pts

Tries: Oghre 11, Heward 36

Conversions: Sheedy 11, 36

Exeter ………………………….. 24pts

Tries: Iosefa-Scott 6, Feyi-Wasobo 21, Townsend 41, Vermuelen 76

Conversions: Slade 6, 76

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso provided the festive sparkle as Exeter deservedly won a league game on the road for only the second time since November 2022.

With his explosive running, Cardiff-born 21-year-old Feyi-Waboso was too much of a handful for Bristol's defence and his reward was Exeter's second try before making major contributions to the last two.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “Considering the amount of rugby he has played, he's just incredible and the world is his oyster.

“He is immensely strong and has immense talent but hopefully he will learn to demand the ball more as tonight we missed two or three opportunities to give him one on ones.

“I'm delighted that he's just signed a long-term contract, which fits in nicely with his medical studies at Exeter University.”

Feyi-Wasobo, Stu Townsend, Ross Vintcent and Olly Woodburn all made individual bursts into the opposition 22 but couldn't make it count so Chiefs' job was made harder than it should have been.

The Devonians were always the more potent as Bristol made little use of possession from an exemplary lineout or took advantage from a huge penalty count in their favour.

Max Malins and Noah Heward performed with credit but their powerful centres made no impact with half-backs, Harry Randall and Callum Sheedy, failing to show any real guidance on the attacking front.

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam said: “We are disappointed as a team we didn't get anything out of that game and disappointed for the fans after such a great turnout.”

An early penalty for Bristol saw Sheedy miss the chance to gain an attacking platform by kicking the ball dead and Exeter soon made him pay when Josh Iofesa-Scott finished off a forward drive.

Bears quickly drew level when Gabriel Oghre finished off an unstoppable lineout drive but the first quarter was a disjointed affair as unsympathetic referee, Christophe Ridley, awarded nine penalties in that period for relatively minor infringements.

Unfortunately the game has now become too complex for many to comprehend and is in danger of losing its appeal unless more leniency is shown to prevent continual disruption to play.

However Chiefs did enliven proceedings with a superb second try. From a line-out in the opposition 22, their midfield trio combined neatly to send Woodburn racing away with Feyi-Wasobo outflanking the cover defence to score.

A breakout run from Joe Batley took Bristol into the opposition 22 from where slick hands gave Heward the chance to explode pass Nika Abuladze and finish in style. Sheedy's touchline conversion gave his side a fortuitous 14-12 interval advantage.

Bears bungled the restart and it cost them their lead as Feyi-Waboso brushed past two weak tackles to leave Townsend with the simple task of touching down.

Townsend immediately became the villain by picking up a yellow card for a needless deliberate knock-on but no damage was done to the scoreboard in his absence.

With eight minutes remaining, Bristol won a penalty 40 metres out and they could have drawn level but instead chose an attacking lineout. It proved the wrong call as Dafydd Jenkins stole possession for Exeter to breakaway and score their bonus-point try through Jacques Vermuelen.