Bath beat Exeter Chiefs 40-34 in a pulsating West Country derby at the Rec to take them to the top of the Gallagher Prem table but they were made to fight all the way in an 11-try thriller. Exeter trailed 26-10 at the interval but rallied to lead 33-31 midway through the second half before a yellow card for scrum-half Stephen Varney eventually proved decisive. Cam Redpath, Dan du Preez, Bernard van der Linde, Ted Hill and Finn Russell scored Bath’s tries. There was also a penalty try award with Russell converting four.
The hugely impressive Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored two tries for Exeter with Jack Yeandle, Josh Iosefa-Scott and Varney also going over. Henry Slade converted three and Harvey Skinner added a late penalty. Bath took control as first Redpath intercepted a Skinner pass to run 50 metres and score before Van der Linde slipped through a gap in the visitors’ defence for an individual try. Russell converted both to give his side a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Exeter badly needed a response and they got one thanks to the strong running of Feyi-Waboso. First he evaded a tackle from Ollie Lawrence to put the defence on the back foot and when the ball was recycled he powered past another two coverers with Varney on hand to touchdown. The hosts scored their third try when a favourable bounce on halfway saw them capitalise with Van der Linde and Ewan Richards taking advantage to give Du Preez the chance to force his way over from close range but Bath bungled the kick-off so Yeandle was able to keep his side in contention with a try from a driving lineout. However with half-time approaching, Bath exerted a period of pressure culminating in Russell dummying his way over for the bonus-point try before converting for a 26-10 interval lead.
Exeter began the second half strongly and were rewarded with two tries in quick succession. First Iosefa-Scott crashed over from close range before Feyi-Waboso took his opportunity in style by brushing aside two would-be tacklers. Slade converted both and his side were right back in the contest with just two points between the teams. Exeter took the lead for the first time when former Bath man Will Butt carved the hosts apart to provide Feyi-Waboso with an easy run-in for his second try.
The home side were soon awarded a penalty try with Varney yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on and in the scrum-half’s absence, Hill battered his way over the tryline. Slade missed badly with a penalty attempt so Skinner took over the goal-kicking and his success gave Chiefs two deserved bonus points from the match.
