Gloucester 79-17 Exeter Chiefs: Cherry & Whites stay in play-off hunt after record win

It took only six minutes for the hosts to open the scoring, a driving maul from five yards out powered through the Exeter defence which allowed Jack Clement to put down in the corner after an opening period of fluid attack from Gloucester. Santi Carreras’s first attempt off the tee bounced off the wrong side of the woodwork.

The fluid rugby was on full display from Gloucester as the hosts scored a trio of tries within five minutes. The first came through Hooker Seb Blake in the 14^th minute after a mighty push from the forward pack dismantled the Exeter defence and then captain Lewis Ludlow got Gloucester’s third after some improvised kicking opened up space in the backfield. The hattrick was completed by Chris Harris after free flowing Gloucester overran Exeter to put the hosts up 22-0 with an hour to play.

The tries just kept coming for Gloucester as they pieced apart the Chiefs, some impressive work through the hands resulted in Seb Atkinson adding his name to the scoresheet 26 minutes in which was quickly followed by a beautiful line break from Gareth Anscombe on the half hour mark. Carreras was successful with both of his conversion attempts.

Exeter finally got themselves on the scoresheet in the 33^rd minute through a tantalising solo run by Josh Hodge which split apart the Gloucester defensive shape. Henry Slade got his first kick of the afternoon.

The first half action just kept coming, a looping pass by Tomos Williams found winger Jake Morris whose cheeky grubber kick bounced into the hands of Carreras who played Williams in for the score in the 39^th minute.

Gloucester started the second half strongly; it took only seven minutes for them to score their eighth try of the match and only two minutes more to score their ninth. Christian Wade’s long chip set Gloucester up within the five metre line and some strong forward carries resulted in Jamal Ford-Robinson thundering over the line. Wade turned assist to score shortly after as he touched down in the corner.

The try count for Gloucester was made ten by Atkinson after he ran half the length of the pitch to score his second of the match. Carreras got the extras putting Gloucester score to 60 five minutes before the hour mark.

The battering continued as Gloucester’s maul proved to be too strong for the Chiefs once again when replacement hooker Jack Singleton blistered over the line just before the hour mark increasing Gloucester’ lead to 60. Singleton scored his second shortly after with a put down in the corner in the 65^th minute after some aerial acrobatics. Singleton continued scoring, completing his hattrick from another driving maul in the 69^th minute.

Will Rigg got one back for the Chiefs in the 72 minute with a superb put down in the corner.

Gloucester Rugby

Tries: 13 ( Clement 6’, Blake 14’ Ludlow 17’, Harris 20’, Atkinson 26’ 55’, Anscombe 30’, Williams 39’, Ford-Robinson 47’, Wade 49’, Singleton 58’ 65’ 69’)

Conversions: 7 ( Carreras 18’ 27’ 31’ 39’ 56’ 59’, Anscombe 70’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0

15. Santi Carreras (59’) 14. Christian Wade 13. Chris Harris (65’) 12. Seb Atkinson 11. Jake Morris 10. Gareth Anscombe 9. Tomos Williams (59’) 1. Val Rapava-Ruskin (10’) 2. Seb Blake (53’) 3. Afo Fasogbon (53’) 4. Arthur Clark 5. Freddie Thomas (64’) 6. Jack Clement (10, 20’, 64’) 7. Lewis Ludlow (captain) 8. Ruan Ackermann

16. Jack Singleton (53’) 17. Jamal Ford-Robinson (10’) 18. Kirill Gotovtsev (53’) 19. Cam Jordan 64’) 20. Freddie Clarke (10’, 20’, 64’) 21. Caolan Englefield (59’) 22. Charlie Atkinson (65’) 23. Jack Cotgreave (59’)

Exeter Chiefs

Tries: 3 ( Hodge 33’ , Rigg 72’, Haydon-Wood 80’)

Conversions: 1 ( Slade 33’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: 1 ( Haydon-Wood 67’)

Red cards: 0

15. Josh Moore 14. Ben Hammersley (20’) 13. Henry Slade 12. Joe Hawkins (50’) 11. Paul Brown-Bampoe 10. Harvey Skinner 9. Niall Armstrong (45’) 1. Scott Sio (45’) 2. Jack Yeandle (45’) 3. Marcus Street (45’) 4. Rusi Tuma (58’) 5. Dafydd Jenkins (captain) 6. Ethan Roots (45’) 7. Ross Vincent 8. Greg Fislau

16. Max Norey (45’) 17. Kvenzo Blose (45’) 18. Joah Iosefa-Scott (45’) 19. Richard Capstick (45’) 20. Jacques Vermeulen (58’) 21. Stu Townsend (45’) 22. Will Haydon-Wood (20’) 23. Will Rigg (50’)

Here is your revised and formatted Player Ratings section, following your style: number, period, player name, rating in bold, and properly spaced hyphens to avoid confusion with negative numbers. Each entry is one paragraph.

1. Val Rapava-Ruskin – 4/10
The loosehead was unfortunately taken off with an injury just 10 minutes into the match.

2. Seb Blake – 8/10
The main man in the set piece for Gloucester, the hooker scored one and was impeccable from the set piece throughout.

3. Afo Fasogbon – 6/10
Fasogbon was a powerful force up front today and provided a crucial turnover.

4. Arthur Clark – 7/10
Clark made positive contact metres and took control of the forward pack after Thomas’s departure.

5. Freddie Thomas – 7/10
Thomas was a commanding force today; he led the lineout well and was solid in the breakdown.

6. Jack Clement – 8/10
Clement was on the receiving end of multiple crunching shots today, but he shook them off and made positive contact yards throughout. He even popped up with a couple of turnovers.

7. Lewis Ludlow (captain) – 8/10
Ludlow was superb, he led from the front well and was a menace at the breakdown.

8. Ruan Ackermann – 7/10
Ackermann was consistently solid and showed off some superb hands as well as contact carries.

9. Tomos Williams – 8/10
The scrum half was on another level today; his passes split open the Exeter defence and provided his side with many attacking positions to score from.

10. Gareth Anscombe – 7/10
The experienced fly half really showed his international quality, setting up lots of positive play which put Gloucester in attacking positions.

11. Jake Morris – 6/10
Morris was electric with every touch of the ball; however, he didn’t receive much of the ball and was kept quiet for large periods.

12. Seb Atkinson – 9/10
Atkinson is fast becoming one of the best inside centres in the league and should be on Borthwick’s radar for an England call-up. He was sensational today—fluid in attack and read play well in defence.

13. Chris Harris – 8/10
Harris shipped the ball out well and carried superbly. He also chipped in with some strong tackles, forcing turnovers. His pairing with Atkinson this season has been the difference in games at times.

14. Christian Wade – 9/10
Wade is a sensational player and his speed set him apart from the crowd today. His multiple chip-and-chase plays were key contributors to many of Gloucester’s tries.

15. Santi Carreras – 8/10
He’s the star man at Kingsholm for a reason—his ability to control a game and create chances out of nothing is second to none. His kicking let him down today, however.

Replacements – 8/10
Gloucester’s replacements were superb, especially Jack Singleton with his hattrick performance. They stepped up when needed and didn’t let the quality drop at all.

Gloucester’s record win – The 79 points scored by Gloucester today is the most points The Cherry and Whites’ have ever scored in a league match. What a time to put in a performance like today with the playoffs fast approaching Gloucester certainly made a statement to the teams around them. With their three remaining games against three of the bottom four sides the cards are surely in Gloucester’s favour.

One final push- With only three rounds left in the Gallagher Premiership only four points separate third and sixth. After a performance like this Gloucester’s form is up there with the best in the league and the Cherry and Whites’ will certainly be full of confidence for their visit to The Stoop in two weeks’ time.

Time to regroup for The Chiefs – Off the back of a record defeat its surely a sombre atmosphere around the Exeter camp. Head Coach Rob Hunter summed up the defeat by calling it “definitely the worst day of my career”. A defeat like this is hard for any side to recover from but Hunter sees the week off next week as a big advantage. “

With next week off we are going to sit on this and let it simmer.” It got a bit scrappy at times for the Chiefs with captain Daf Jenkins in the midst of a couple of tussles in the second half. “We need to make sure that the fight that’s in them is directed in the right direction”. Hunter may have had a rough day at the office but it hasn’t dampened his spirit for success as when he left the press conference he stated “ my enthusiasm for this role has not diminished”.

Super Singleton – It’s not often a hooker scores a hattrick and even less so off the break but Jack Singleton today added his name to the elusive list of hattrick hookers. The Englishman scored three in just over 10 minutes for his first senior hattrick. He offers so much in the set piece but also in open play as seen with his acrobatics for his second try.

Gloucester turn the tables- It has been a couple of tough weeks for Gloucester with back to back defeats to Bath and then to Saracens but its clear the tide has turned into the favour of The Cherry and Whites. With the playoff race closer than ever it’s no better time for Gloucester to put the pedal to the metal and with a 79 point performance today it really is game on in the Premiership.