The first piece of silverware for the 2022/23 season has been decided, with Exeter Chiefs lifting the Premiership Rugby Cup trophy at the G-tech Community Stadium. The dramatic final saw Josh Iosefa-Scott’s try take the match to extra-time, before Aidon Davis’ match-winning score handed London Irish back-to-back defeats in the final.
Exeter Chiefs Skills Coach Ricky Pellow was delighted with his sides hard-fought performance, with Exeter Chiefs bringing a trophy home to Devon for the first time since their Premiership and Champions Cup double of 2020.
“I’m absolutely and exceptionally proud, and what a win. And what a way to do it. I think most coaches would say that they would just want to win in normal time, but to take it into that sudden-death, and to score like that in the last play was outstanding”
“We’ll look through the game, and there were areas in there where actually, London Irish had dominance in there. I think actually, from that perspective I’ve got to say full credit to London Irish.
“What a game of rugby, we had to fight extremely hard. To one, get into that lead, but also to rip the lead away from London Irish. They’ll be disappointed, but what a game of rugby they put out there. They made us fight for every inch of the pitch.”
London Irish started of the scoring after quarter of an hour’s play, and did so in typical Exeter Chiefs fashion. After winning a scrum penalty against the run of play, fly half Jacob Atkins kicked the Exiles deep into the Chiefs corner. The following rolling maul saw Exiles Hooker Ignacio Ruiz throw and gather the ball at the back of the maul, and drive his pack over to score. Atkins slotted the following conversion from out wide.
The match opened up, with both sides expressing themselves at the G-tech Community Stadium. Exeter’s number eight Rus Tuima broke through the Irish defence, with powerful carries to the joy of the travelling supporters. Irish took control of the kicking game, with Exeter’s backfield bombarded with high balls under pressure. The Chiefs’ failed to return the favour, with their first half kicks from hand either not finding touch or sliced out on the full.
After a short stalemate of both sides jostling for an advantage, Exeter responded with an equalising try. Both hooker’s marked themselves on the scoresheet, as Jack Innard crossed over for the Chiefs. The front-rower channelled his inner scrum half, with a neat dummy from the back of a ruck, and sniped from close range to level up the score. Chiefs fly half Iwan Jenkins converted, for a 7-7 score-line.
Exeter Chiefs dropped to 14 men, after prop Danny Southworth received a yellow card. A lengthy TMO review transpired, as referee Adam Leal was not happy with Southworth’s tackle on Irish’s number eight So’otala Fa’aso’o. Southworth’s shoulder made contact with the back-rower’s head, with every replay getting an ‘oooooh’ out of the Irish fans. The decision is that Fa’aso’o dropped his height, and the tackle was not malicious, resulting in a yellow card.
A third score in the first half, saw a hat-trick of hooker tries, as Ruiz secured his brace five minutes before halftime. In a mirror image of his first try, Ruiz drove the Exiles pack over from close range, with Jacob Atkins once again converting from out wide. Illegal play in the breakdown saw Exeter awarded a penalty seconds before halftime, with Jenkins calmly adding three points, as the sides departed with a 14-10 score-line.
London Irish started the second half hottest, and winger Michael Dykes thought he had scored five minutes after the re-start, and so did the G-tech crowd but the try is ruled out for a forward pass. Tuima’s illegal involvement at the ruck awarded Irish a penalty, which Atkins slotted from in front of the posts for a 17-10 lead.
The second half entered a stalemate for the majority, with neither side able to grab the upper hand in this hotly contested final. Just one converted try stood between Irish and Chiefs, and the Exiles dropped to 14 men with eight minutes left on the clock. Flanker Josh Basham was sent to the sin bin, after making head contact in the tackle with Chiefs centre Sean O’Brien.
Exeter took a quick tap and go from the following penalty, and crashed over from close range. There is no clear try, as the ball is deemed knocked on over the try-line after a TMO review, with the Irish fans rejoicing in celebration.
Yet the cheers were short-lived, as Exeter’s replacement prop Josh Iosefa-Scott scored with five minutes remaining. Joe Simmonds converted to level the match 17-17, and London Irish entered extra-time in the Premiership Rugby Cup Final, for the second year in a row.
This was the nightmare scenario for London Irish, as they were defeated by Worcester Warriors last year. A 25-25 stalemate saw the 2022 Premiership Rugby Cup decided on tries scored, with the stipulations remaining the same for this years’ final.
However, a draw looked unlikely, with the Exiles striking first blood in extra time. The Exiles were ignited with fire, desperate to avoid a repeat of last-years heartbreak. They took the fight to Chiefs, and thought they had scored seven minutes into extra time. Replacement prop Cieran Parker crashed over from close range, yet Wales International Christ Tshiunza held up the grounding.
Irish had a penalty advantage from an earlier offence, with Atkins making no mistake from the tee. Irish took the 20-17 advantage, yet the lead was short lived. After an entire match of short picks, wearing down the Irish defence, Exeter finally reaped the rewards from close range.
Flanker Aidon Davis dived over to score, as Exeter had finally broken down the resilient green and black wall. Davis’ try saw the away section of the G-tech Community Stadium erupt, with Joe Simmonds’ conversion stretching daylight between the two locked-horn sides.
Exeter’s ‘war cry’ reached a fever-pitch, yet was drowned out by the ‘Fields of Athenry’ as Irish fans urged their side onwards. A late kick to the corner saw Irish fight from close range, throwing everything they could at Exeter’s solid defence of Devonshire grit. Fans took to their feat, with Irish awarded a penalty, yet the four points difference required a try for glory.
Irish took a quick tap, yet the ball was spilt in the dying seconds. Exeter clear their lines with a frantic kick barely going 22m. They thought they’d won, but London Irish had one last roll of the dice from the lineout. Chiefs halted the maul, and Simmonds gets his hands on the ball, and sent it sailing into the Brentford sky.
Exeter Chiefs are the Premiership Rugby Cup champions, with London Irish distraught from their back-to-back defeats in the final. London Irish Defence Coach Declan Danaher was devastated with the result, as his side’s ‘fairy tale ending’ avoided them, as they fell at the final hurdle for the second year in a row.
“I think like it felt like we used all our luck up in the previous rounds maybe. It wasn’t going to be the fairy tale that we had obviously against Northampton Saints and then picking up that bonus point late against Bath. But like I said, I thought both teams went at it, and really pushed each other. I thought both sets of forwards were superb, it was always going to be a fairly tight and cagey affair.”
“It’s tough. This feels like deja vu in the Prem Cup, going into extra time and that’s a hell of a lot of emotion. But like I said, tomorrow morning I’ll wake up, and I’ll say to myself that we’ll be better for this.”
LONDON IRISH: 20
TRIES: 2 (Ruiz 15′, 35′)
CONVERSIONS 2 (Atkins 15′, 35′)
PENALTIES: 2 (Atkins 46′, 88′)
15. Stokes 14. Matt Williams 13. Joseph 12. Hitchcock 11. Dykes 10. Atkins 9. O’Sullivan 1. Gigena 2. Ruiz 3. Chawatama 4. Caulfield 5. Munga 6. Cooke (c) 7. Basham 8. Fas’aso’o
16. Cornish 17. Haffar 18. Parker 19. Scragg 20. Gonzalez 21. Englefield 22. Poolman 23. Harmes
EXETER CHIEFS: 24
TRIES: 3 (Innard 26′, Iosefa-Scott 74′, Davis 90′)
CONVERSIONS 3 (Jenkins 26′, Simmonds 74′, 90′)
PENALTIES: 1 (Jenkins 39′)
15. Wyatt 14. John 13. O’Brien 12. Hendrickson 11. O’Loughlin 10. Jenkins 9. Cairns 1. Southworth 2. Innard 3. Schnickerling 4. Mike Williams 5. Dunne 6. Tshiunza 7. Davis 8. Tuima
16. Harris 17. Kenny 18. Iosefa-Scott 19. Teague 20. Kirsten 21. Becconsall 22. Devoto 23. J Simmonds