Exeter Chiefs: (7) 21 |
Attempt: vincent, ficilau, roots Cons: slade 3 |
bus: (12) 15 |
Attempt: Du Toit, Hill pen: spencer Cons: spencer |
Exeter Chiefs fought back to beat Bath at Sandy Park and qualify for the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals.
Despite playing in strong winds and losing Finn Russell to injury early on, Bath led 12-7 by half-time with tries from Thomas du Toit and Ted Hill.
Exeter dominated the majority of the field in the first half, but only scored one goal through Ross Vincent.
However, the hosts improved in the second period with tries from Greg Fisilau and Ethan Roots.
Rob Baxter's side will face the winner of Sunday's opponent Toulouse or Racing 92 in next weekend's quarter-finals.
If Racing, who has struggled with just one win in the pool stage, wins on the road, the Chiefs will tie at home.
In this scenario, they would also avoid a difficult trip to five-time champions Toulouse, who have won all four of their pool games and are ranked as the No. 1 seed going into the finals.
Fay-Waboso helps lead Chiefs to victory
Bath, second in the Premiership, lost just one pool game to Toulouse in both competitions in what was an impressive first season for manager Johan van Graan.
The signing of Russell has been central to this run of form and Bath were dealt a huge blow when the Scottish fly-half limped off after just 14 minutes.
Despite this setback and playing in strong winds in the first half, it was the visitors who took the lead with du Toit scoring his ninth try of the season.
Ben Spencer's conversion was blown around halfway as the posts swerved from left to right, demonstrating the extent of Devon's difficult conditions.
From that restart, Exeter responded immediately when Italian number eight Vincent, who had impressed on his debut in the Six Nations, picked up a dropped ball from Alfie Barbeary and raced clear.
Van Graan's side didn't get many chances in the early stages, but when they did, they attacked with all their might, with Hill taking a kick from the air and sprinting past the chasing Immanuel Fay-Waboso to score a try from no out. .
Chiefs showed resilience in the pool stages, coming from behind to beat both Toulon and Glasgow thanks to a late kick from Henry Slade.
And England winger Fay-Waboso was in constant fire throughout the match, breaking several tackles in the lead up to Fisilau's try as a packed Sandy Park looked set for another come-from-behind victory.
The 21-year-old, who performed well against Scotland and Ireland, missed England's final Six Nations game against France. Due to injury.
The winger once again achieved a few meters of contact but helped Exeter get to the try line and Roots powered over to seal the win.
Baxter's young side continue to show they have never lost a match in Europe as they aim for their second Champions Cup after winning in 2020.
lineup
Exeter: Hodge; Faye Waboso, Slade, Devoto, Woodburn. Cairns, Skinner. Sio, Yandle, Painter, Tuima, Jenkins (Captain), Roots, Tsinza, Vincent.
Replacement: Innard, Southworth, Street, Pearson, Fisilau, Townsend, Haydonwood, Wimbush.
bus: Gallagher. Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Redpath, Muir. Russell, Spencer (captain); Obano, Dunn, du Toit, Roux, Ewels, Hill, Underhill, Barbeary.
Replacement: Annette, Schoeman, Stuart, Stoke, Reed, Schreuder, Bailey, Coetzee.
Sin bin: Tom Dunn (5)
Referee: Luc Ramos (France)