GREAT sides find ways to win when the going gets tough, and Exeter Chiefs did exactly that in claiming this Devon Double.
They join the pantheon of English double winners – becoming only the fourth club to do so by matching Leicester, Wasps and Saracens – and they fully merit the plaudits after battling through the evening deluge at Twickenham, overcoming a spirited Wasps outfit to add the Premiership trophy to a Sandy Park cabinet that already contains the European Cup.
Exeter's success has been built on the firmest of foundations both on and off the pitch – and it was on the field that, for the second week in succession, they showed how rock-solid they are in the basics of the game.
The Chiefs had a clear advantage throughout this final at the scrum and line-out, and in the ability to control the ball in contact, and eventually it was that attention to the fundamentals that carried them to their second Premiership title only a decade after winning promotion from the Championship.
At half-time, Rob Baxter, Exeter's talismanic coach, was asked what his side – who led 13-10 at the interval – had to do to tilt the balance in their favour against a Wasps outfit that never stopped scrapping. He summed up the game plan perfectly, saying that the waterlogged pitch made multiple passage of play pretty difficult, and that his side had to use set piece pressure, “to grind and grind”.
After a first-half in which both sides made light of the conditions to score spectacular tries – Exeter through Henry Slade and Wasps through Jacob Umaga – the contest tightened-up, and as the margins for error became smaller, and the ability to apply pressure became critical, it was the Chiefs, who came out on top.
Having taken a three-point lead on the stroke of half-time with a Joe Simmonds penalty, Exeter were primed to build on it, when, six minutes into the second half, they drove Sam Skinner's catch at a five metre lineout to the Wasps line. However, they were thwarted when Jack Willis managed to stay on his feet while reaching over to lift the ball, for his umpteenth turnover penalty of the season – and a vital try-saver to keep Wasps alive.
When replacement hooker Gabriel Oghre followed the Willis lead in defending another lineout, Wasps started to get their second wind. They also levelled the score at 13-13 just before the hour after a Jimmy Gopperth penalty turned a piece of individual magic by Lima Sopoaga into points. First the bench fullback's airborne tap from outside the touchline deflected the ball back into play, and then his clearance deep into the Chiefs 22 saw a fierce chase and tackle force them to infringe.
The ebb and flow went back Exeter's way when a penalty from the deadeye Simmonds made it 16-13, and then, with ten minutes remaining, Wasps had their shot at glory when a Jack Yeandle ruck infringement saw Umaga's monster line kick from well inside his own half, give his side a five metre lineout.
After Oghre's throw to Will Rowlands was driven to the line Wasps were awarded a penalty for a deliberate collapse, and rather than level the score by giving Gopperth a kick at the posts, with six minutes to play they went to the corner again.
However, this time, with Exeter stacking the front of the lineout, Jonny Gray picked off young Oghre's throw – and it was match over as the Chiefs rumbled to the other end of the pitch, winning two penalties along the way. A last lineout drive yielded the Joe Simmonds penalty which gave them their six-point winning margin on the stroke of full-time, and was the Exeter fly -half's 33rd consecutive goal-kick in the run-in to the Chiefs double.
There is little doubt about which side went into this showdown in better shape, with the Chiefs turbocharged after last weekend's European Cup final victory over Racing, and Wasps already on the back foot.
Their 11-man Covid outbreak meant that their Wednesday training session was the first since their semi-final victory over Bristol a fortnight ago – and despite their midweek reprieve they were weakened by the absence of Brad Shields, Kieran Brookes, Simon McIntyre and Alfie Barbeary, as well as the unavailability of Malakai Fekitoa due to a groin injury.
The fault lines were there as Jonny Hill picked off two Wasps lineouts in the opening ten minutes, as Exeter settled to the task with their customary power and efficiency. However, Wasps, bucked the early trend when Jimmy Gopperth gave them an early lead when they earned a penalty from their first proper foray into the Chiefs half.
It did not keep Exeter at bay for long, and when they won a penalty from the restart, and kicked for the corner deep in the Wasps 22, the Chiefs cranked their driving maul siege machine into action. It is the sort of position that Exeter score from habitually, but this time Joe Launchbury managed to get to grips with the catcher, Sam Skinner, and hold him up for long enough to win a penalty turnover.
It proved nothing more than a minor inconvenience for the European champions, and although Wasps put in a clattering defensive set, the tackling was not enough to knock Exeter out of their stride. In fact, the demands it made on the Wasps forwards left them vulnerable – and as Henry Slade collected a pass from Jack Nowell on the Wasps ten metre line he quickly sized up a mismatch, with loosehead Tom West and No.8 Tom Willis in the defensive line.
As Slade stepped on the accelerator to slice between the two Wasps forwards the damage had been done, and the England outside centre's pace did the rest as he cut inside Minozzi and rode Umaga's challenge to score.
With Joe Simmonds converting from the touchline, Exeter led 7-3 midway through the half, and with Exeter starting to command possession and territory, Wasps task under the Twickenham floodlights was looking increasingly uphill.
They responded to the adversity with an elan which captured the attacking spirit that had taken them all the way to this final. It started when a Gopperth cross-kick evaded Olly Woodburn, and with Minozzi chasing hard and diving on it first, Wasps were in business inside the Chiefs half, as Dan Robson made a probing dart on the openside before his sweetly timed pass hit Umaga in full stride.
The young fly-half showed why he has been acclaimed as one of the finds of the season by beating Stuart Hogg's tackle with his arcing run, and then showing the fleetness of foot to evade Dave Ewers to touchdown by the uprights. When Gopperth added the extras, Wasps held the lead again at 10-7 – and Exeter knew that they were in a battle.
In the final analysis, however, the remarkable run under Lee Blackett, which took them from 10th in the table after ten rounds to within three points of the league leaders, ended against an Exeter team who were worthy of the title English and European champions.
NICK CAIN
Player ratings
Exeter Chiefs: Hogg 6, Nowell 7, Slade 8.5, Devoto 6.5, Woodburn 6, J Simmonds 8 (c), Maunder 7; Hepburn 8, Cowan-Dickie 8, Williams 8, Skinner 7.5, Hill 8, Ewers 7, Kirsten 7, S Simmonds 7
Replacements: Yeandle 6 (Cowan-Dickie 61), Moon 6 (Hepburn 61), Francis 6 (Williams 61), Gray 8 (Hill 55), Hidalgo-Clyne 6.5 (Maunder 61). Not used: Vermeulen, Steenson, Whitten
Wasps: Minozzi 5.5, Kibirige 6, De Jongh 6, Gopperth 7, Bassett 6, Umaga 8, Robson 8; West 5, Taylor 5.5, Toomaga-Allen 5, Launchbury 7 (c), Rowlands 6, J Willis 7, Young 6.5, T Willis 5
Replacements: Oghre 5.5 (Taylor 55), Harris 6 (West 54), Alo 5 (Toomaga-Allen 66), Gaskell 5.5 (Gaskell 46), Sopoaga 6.5 (Minozzi 56), Le Bourgeois N/A (De Jongh 74)
