Exeter Chiefs won their first European title after they held off Racing 92 to win 31-27 in a thrilling Champions Cup final at Ashton Gate.
First half tries from Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams and Sam Simmonds gave the Chiefs a 21-12 lead at the break with Simon Zebo and Juan Imhoff crossing for the French side.
Zebo and Henry Slade traded tries after the restart before Camille Chat’s converted try and a penalty from Maxime Machenaud set up a grandstand finish, 28-27.
Despite being down to 14 men for the final 10 minutes, Exeter held on for the narrow win with Joe Simmonds slotting a late penalty.
STATS ZONE
- Most tackles: Wenceslas Lauret (Racing 92) – 17
- Most missed tackles: Dave Ewers (Exeter Chiefs) – 4
- Most carries: Virimi Vakatawa (Racing) – 12
- Most metres: Virimi Vakatawa (Racing) – 116
- Most defenders beaten: Juan Imhoff (Racing) -3
- Most offloads: Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) – 3
- Turnovers conceded: Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 4
RUCK’S MAN OF THE MATCH: Jack Nowell
Always hustling. The speedster always performs on the big occasion. A fantastic intercept and offload from the England international to set up Slade’s try.
STAR PLAYERS:
Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs) – The lock has to be in Eddie Jones squad for the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup. Absolutely destroyed Finn Russell with a huge hit.
Virimi Vakatawa (Racing 92) – Massive yard maker, integral to most Racing attacks, breaks the gain line and always looking for space or making it. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – The epitome of cool. Played some lovely passes and little kicks to set team mates into key attacking spaces at times. Probably the most exciting fly-half to watch in the world right now.
UNDERPERFORMERS:
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) – Much was made of the fullback going toe-to-toe with his international teammate Finn Russell pre-match. However, Hogg just couldn’t get himself into the match, making just three carries and also missing two tackles. Very poor by his incredibly high standards.
Exeter vs Racing 92 player ratings
Exeter: Stuart Hogg 5, Jack Nowell 8, Henry Slade 7, Ian Whitten 6, Tom O’Flaherty 6, Joe Simmonds (c) 7, Jack Maunder 7, Sam Simmonds 7, Jacques Vermeulen 7, Dave Ewers 7, Jonny Hill 8, Jonny Gray 7, Harry Williams 8, Luke Cowan-Dickie 8, Alec Hepburn 7
Racing 92: Simon Zebo 8, Louis Dupichot 7, Virimi Vakatawa 8, Henry Chavancy (c) 6, Juan Imhoff 7, Finn Russell, Teddy Iribaren 5, Antonie Claassen 6, Fabien Sanconnie 7, Wenceslas Lauret 7, Dominic Bird 7, Bernard Le Roux 6, Georges Henri Colombe 6, Camille Chat 7, Eddy Ben Arous 7
RANKED | The 10 highest paid people in rugby union, 2020
Keep reading to see the top 10 highest-paid people in rugby union, ranked in ascending order of earnings.
9=. ANDY FARRELL £600k (Ireland)
The first of two Farrell’s on this list, Andy received a significant pay boost when he took over from Joe Schmidt following the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
9=. DAN BIGGAR £600k (Northampton Saints)
The Welsh pivot has made the most of his big-money move from Ospreys to Northampton Saints, where he has shone consistently since joining in 2018.
8. STEVE LUATUA £650k (Bristol Bears)
Didn’t make any friends within the All Blacks hierarchy when he decided to cash in on his extreme rugby talent, signing for Bristol in 2017. Has since signed a two-year contract extension. The All Blacks aren’t allowed by the New Zealand Rugby Union to pick exiles.
