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Almost 12 months ago to the day Exeter shipped 79 points in front of the Shed, precipitating a major coaching reshuffle and a finger-wagging lecture in the dressing room from their chair Tony Rowe. The scale of this eventful defeat was much less but there could yet be a sizeable cost to pay as the end-of-season playoffs loom larger.
The Chiefs have certainly chosen an awkward moment to suffer back-to-back league defeats, leaving them looking over their shoulders with four regular season rounds remaining. On this occasion they could have no complaints whatsover as a revitalised Gloucester secured only their third league win of the campaign with Max Llewellyn and Will Trenholm both collecting a brace of tries.
Having led 26-12 at half-time, the home side had to withstand a last quarter visiting fightback but deserved their breathless victory which lifts them up to eighth place and boosts their prospects of Champions Cup rugby next season. Exeter came away with a couple of points but a last-minute red card for Ethan Roots compounded their overall disappointment.
Chiefs also lost the in-form Paul Brown-Bampoe in the opening 40 minutes after the wing took a heavy blow to the head while their fit-again Wallaby centre Len Ikitau looked more than a little rusty on his first appearance since Christmas. Their scrum also came under frequent pressure and their defence, similarly, fell short of the standards they now set themselves. So much for all the talk of declining jeopardy with no relegation to keep lower-placed sides honest.
That said it is mighty hard to second guess Gloucester at the moment. If you were being polite you would describe the pre-match stadium mood as pensive following last week’s 53-12 drubbing down the road at Bristol. Losing is one thing; getting hammered by another West Country rival is another level of pain.
Club insiders openly admit “a lot of work” will have to be done to propel Gloucester back to the upper reaches of the table on a consistent basis and the early portents were less than brilliant. Brown-Bampoe had already been making a nuisance of himself in the air when he again rose highest to win another high ball which laid the platform for Ross Vintcent to skip over for the game’s first try inside the opening minute.
This time, though, the Cherry & Whites did not fold at the first hint of trouble. First Llewellyn cut back against the grain to put the hosts on the board before Tomos Williams sliced past some more flat-footed defenders to score a second. George Barton’s conversion hit a post but suddenly the Sunday afternoon vibe around the ground was rather less soporific.
The atmosphere cranked up even further when Ben Loader escaped two more sub-standard tackles and fed the supporting Llewellyn for his second. Exeter badly needed some kind of counter punch and duly found one when Immanuel Feyi-Waboso glided unstoppably away from the cover for a quietly brilliant solo score.
It proved only a brief respite as Gloucester once again attacked with purpose and sluggish defence around the fringes gave Trenholm the opportunity to crash over and secure a bonus point after just 32 minutes. The forceful No 8 moved west from Harlequins last year for more opportunities and showed a healthy appetite for the fray here.
The non-appearance of Exeter’s entire front-row for the second half told the story of the visitors’ need for a rather more energetic showing after the break. Sure enough Greg Fisilau had their third try on the board within four minutes of the restart but again it owed much to Feyi-Waboso who slalomed past numerous opponents to within a few metres of the home line.
It helped to set up a frantic finish after Trenholm’s second had put Gloucester clear at 34-19 up. A penalty try followed by a TMO-approved try by Henry Slade made it much tighter but Gloucester just about held their nerve when it mattered in a frantic finale.
Exeter will now have to dust themselves down and refocus on their European Challenge Cup semi-final against Ulster on Saturday. Significantly they will have some influential tight five forwards back for that encounter but they will need to rediscover another couple of gears over the closing weeks of the season to finish with any silverware.
