Heineken Champions Cup: Exeter Chiefs 52-17 Glasgow Warriors

2 years ago 81

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Exeter: (14) 52
Tries: O'Flaherty 3, S Simmonds 2, Cowan-Dickie, Nowell, Ewers; Cons: J Simmonds 4, Slade 2
Glasgow: (10) 17
Tries: McDonald, Fagerson; Pen: Thompson; Cons: Thompson 2

Exeter wing Tom O'Flaherty scored a hat-trick as Chiefs ran rampant in the second half to exact Champions Cup revenge on Glasgow in an eight-try win.

Glasgow initially led after Ross Thompson's penalty, but Exeter took charge after Sam Simmonds' try followed O'Flaherty's first score.

A try either side of half-time put the Warriors ahead once more.

Exeter then scored three tries in eight minutes to seal a bonus-point win before O'Flaherty added his third.

Jack Nowell and Dave Ewers found time to add their names to the scoresheet too, and the victory puts Exeter in a strong position to reach the last 16.

Glasgow can still qualify too, and both sides have one pool game left to play.

Exeter overwhelm Glasgow in second half

Glasgow beat Exeter 22-7 in the reverse fixture a month ago, and they initially looked to be the stronger side once again as the Warriors' forwards scrambled towards the tryline.

But the hosts held them off and Glasgow eventually settled for three points from Thompson's boot before the Chiefs took control with a slick attacking move.

Exeter swung the ball right from a scrum and O'Flaherty finished with a flourish, throwing a dummy before cutting back inside to score.

After their promising start, Glasgow began to commit careless errors and a penalty conceded on the floor allowed Sam Simmonds to score one of Exeter's trademark tries from a line-out maul.

The visitors were soon gifted a golden chance for three points in front of the posts, but opted instead for a riskier kick to the corner.

Their ambition was rewarded when Kiran McDonald grabbed the ball from the base of the ruck and hopped over the tryline to cut Exeter's lead to four points before half-time.

Glasgow continued to show promise early in the second half - aspiring Scotland flanker Rory Darge's defence was particularly impressive - and the Warriors took a 17-14 lead when Ali Price's pinpoint pass found Matt Fagerson on a perfect line to score.

Sam Simmonds scored a second from close range and the floodgates opened, with O'Flaherty following his lead after collecting a cross-field kick from Joe Simmonds.

Ryan Wilson came on and became the second player in Glasgow's professional history to reach 200 caps, but there was no time to celebrate amid the Exeter onslaught.

Returning Chiefs captain Luke Cowan-Dickie quickly added another try in a maul before O'Flaherty completed his hat-trick with a mirror image of his first try.

Home favourite Nowell pleased the crowd as he sliced through defenders to add to Glasgow's woes, and finally Ewers dived over to bring up 50 points.

Line-ups

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds, Maunder; Moon, Cowan-Dickie (capt), Iosefa-Scott, S Skinner, Lonsdale, Ewers, Kirsten, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Innard, Kenny, Schickerling, Jenkins, Armand, Maunder, H Skinner, Gilbert-Hendrickson.

Glasgow: McKay; Steyn, Tuipulotu, Johnson, Forbes; Thompson, Price (capt); Bhatti, Turner, Z Fagerson, Cummings, McDonald, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.

Replacements: Brown, Kebble, Pieretto, Bean, Wilson, Horne, Weir, Cancelliere.