The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-10)

20 April 10, 2022The Sunday Times 2GS

Rugby Union Heineken Champions Cup

was suddenly with Munster and

against the weakened Exeter.

And Munster started pouring for-

ward. They scored when Shane Daly

escaped down the left wing, came

straight back on to the attack with

every chance, as it seemed, of actually

taking a lead into the second leg of the

tie. But if Exeter’s forwards, with the

mighty Dave Ewers in brilliant form,

had dominated the first half, then the

Exeter defence, in which Joe Sim-

monds was an expert marshal, turned

the tide of the match back towards

Exeter.

Advantage Bristol as

magical Radrada cuts

through the mediocrity

Tigers for a side so clearly struggling.

In defence of these teams, there was

plenty of ambition in the opening

stages of this two-legged European

tie. But there was no shortage of

errors as Bristol began with what is

becoming an all-too-regular

sequence of unforced mistakes.

Harry Randall taking a quick tap

penalty and wasting an opportunity.

Kyle Sinckler standing in his “one-

out” passing position and passing to

no one in particular.

It was easy to see why this tie

represented a last chance for Bristol

to keep their season alive. Sale were

the better team in the first half hour

but not by a lot. Aaron Reed’s speed

caught the eye, so too did a quick-

footed break by the departing Faf de

Klerk which led to a penalty,

converted by Rob du Preez. It may be

a 160-minute affair but Sale were

content to take their points where

they could. A second Du Preez

penalty was countered by a Callum

Sheedy effort for Bristol. The first half

of the first leg of this last-16 fixture got

the blood pumping. “One for the

purists” in television terminology.

Manu Tuilagi’s return was the

central storyline for the neutral. He

had not started for his club since

February. For the best part of the

opening half he thundered into

opposing defenders without making

much of a dent, although once he

carried with commitment and

skittled several Bristol tacklers from

his path.

It raised a cheer, not quite a roar.

Bristol’s decidedly sloppy midfield

had one eye on the centre.

As for De Klerk, the South African

maestro was as competitive as ever.

He may be heading for Japan but

nobody will doubt his commitment

to his club’s cause until the final

whistle of his final game. Nathan

Hughes bowled him over in the

eighth minute but he shrugged off his

speed-bump status to send the ball

soaring into the Manchester skies

It is advantage Bristol as these teams

prepare to meet again next Friday

night at Ashton Gate. It was a superb

result for Bristol but that should not

be confused with the quality of the

match. Neither side were remotely

near the sort of form to threaten

whoever the winning side’s quarter-

final opponents prove to be.

Sale’s season is on the line.

Without AJ MacGinty there is a

creative void in their midfield.

George Ford must be wondering

what he has done to leave Leicester

Stuart Barnes

SALE SHARKS 9

BRISTOL BEARS 10

Radradra

produced the

only inspired

moment of the

game, evading

the flailing

Sale players to

score between

the posts

E

veryone needed something

from this game and this

occasion. The Champions

Cup has slowly but inexorably

lost some of its shiny lustre

over the past few years, with

English and French giants

veering away to concentrate

on their own leagues, and the dip

in commercial power affecting

everyone.

Exeter needed an exceptional per-

formance to prove that they are them-

selves again after their own dip since

their reverberating double, and Mun-

ster were desperate after a week in

which they were given a rare old sav-

Stephen Jones

Rugby Correspondent

13 8

EXETER

CHIEFS

MUNSTER

aging as a club from Donal Lenihan,

their grand former Irish lock.

At least this was a spectacular occa-

sion and match although it is also true

that the Exeter public did not fill the

ground. What they should be doing

this morning, however, is celebrating

a victory in which they could easily

have put Munster clean away by half-

time. Exeter were so dominant and

Munster so anonymous well into this

game, and so it was a supreme irony

that the team which had dominated in

the end held on to win a narrow vic-

tory through their defending.

Exeter must have driven to the

Munster line or over it on six occa-

sions without scoring, and another

three more in the game’s last move.

But Rob Baxter summed up the

game perfectly at the end. Not only

did his men fail to take their chances,

but the new law, which allows the

defending team to drop out rather

than conceding a five-metre scrum,

takes away the power of powerful

teams.

The other match-turning point

were two sin-bins awarded by the

French referee Pierre Brousset which

cost Exeter the services of Olly Wood-

burn and Patrick Schickerling, reduc-

ing them to 13 men at the very time

when they were seeking to pull away.

Baxter never complains about ref-

ereeing fortunes but made an excep-

tion on this occasion. Woodburn was

binned for a part in a ruck in which his

arm struck an opponent but it was a

rugby accident, and if that was a yel-

low then there would have been about

40 yellows in the game. Schickerling

was sent to the sin-bin for actions in a

ruck which was never a ruck.

So the 10-0 lead which Exeter took

deep into the second half was in grave

danger of being eaten away com-

pletely. A penalty by Ben Healy in the

second half brought it back to 10-3 —

which made a farce of the course of

the match. And although Stuart Hogg

dropped an astonishing 45-metre goal

while Exeter were denuded — the first

of Hogg’s career — the momentum

Hogg crossed for

Exeter’s first try

and also kicked a

second-half drop-

goal in a big win

for the Chiefs at

Sandy Park

CHIEFS MAY RUE

PROFLIGACY