Jack Innard scored two tries as Exeter regained the Anglo-Welsh Cup with a convincing win in the final at Kingsholm. This was the fourth final in a row the Chiefs had contested and, after losing the last two, they claimed back the trophy they first won in 2014.(There was no competition in 2015 because of the World Cup.)
Bath went into the final unbeaten in this season’s tournament but they were comfortably second best on the day as their wait for a first trophy since 2008, when they won the European Challenge Cup, went on.
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Toby Salmon scored Exeter’s other try, with Joe Simmonds adding three penalties and two conversions, while Bath’s points came from a Cooper Vuna try and two penalties from Freddie Burns.
The Exeter skills coach, Ricky Pellow, hailed the depth of his squad. “I’m really proud of this group of players. The club has a squad of 48-52 players and we have faith in all of them, and they showed that today by playing with emotion and passion in a competition that is a massive part of the club’s development plan.”
Exeter dominated the opening exchanges to take a sixth-minute lead when, from a pre-planned move, Innard crashed over from a line-out five metres out. Simmonds converted from the touchline before adding two penalties as the Premiership champions continued their impressive start.
Apart from restarts Bath failed to get out of their own half in the first quarter but a couple of drives from the prop Beno Obano gave them impetus and they were rewarded with their first points when Burns kicked a penalty.
That score was the catalyst for Bath to raise their game and they got back in contention with an excellent try. Vuna began the move by fielding a clearance and evading Tom O’Flaherty to allow Shaun Knight to burst through the Exeter defence before Burns ran cleverly to send Vuna over.
Burns’ conversion hit a post before Exeter responded with their second try when Innard finished off a driving lineout. Simmonds converted before a mistake from Burns soon gave Exeter their third score. His kick was charged down by Kai Horstmann, enabling Salmon to force his way over to give Exeter a 25-8 lead at half-time.
If Bath were to make a game of it, they badly needed the first score of the second half but the worsening conditions made handling difficult with their opponents content to kick the ball at every opportunity. A mistake from Santiago Cordero gave Bath a platform in the Exeter half from which Burns fired over his second penalty. That score gave his side a glimmer of hope before Burns, man of the match for Leicester in last season’s final, was replaced by Rhys Priestland with 15 minutes remaining.
However, Exeter’s pack remained the dominant force, with a late penalty from Simmonds rewarding their efforts. The young fly-half contributed a crucial 13 points and believes Exeter are improving as a unit.
“We wanted to go one better than last year as we weren’t good enough then but learned a lot from that experience,” Simmonds said. “They were different games against sides with different styles but the conditions today weren’t the best, though they probably helped us in the long run. We have a huge game at home to Gloucester next week before a last big block of four in the Premiership.”
Bath’s director of rugby, Todd Blackadder, was hugely disappointed as Bath continued their disappointing season. “We set ourselves up in the first quarter as our kicking was aimless and our discipline killed us,” he said.
“We prepared well but they executed better and we didn’t play the game we said we would. We came out a different team after the interval but it shouldn’t take a rocket at half-time to make us turn in a performance.”