Gloucester, Chiefs cause double upset

01/25/2025 04:13 PM

WRAP: The Premiership title race was thrown into turmoil on Saturday.

Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs recorded bonus-point wins over Leicester Tigers and Saracens respectively.

Gloucester climbed into the top three in the Premiership table.

It was Exeter's second win of the season, and their first bonus-point victory since May last year, as an intense game at Sandy Park opened up into an end-to-end clash in the second half.

Jack Innard gave the Chiefs an early 5-3 lead, after Juan Martin Gonzalez had been sin-binned, but Tobias Elliott replied for Sarries 14 minutes from half-time.

Will Rigg's try put Exeter ahead again 11 minutes after the break before Elliott took advantage of an Exeter error to put Saracens five points ahead with 20 minutes left.

But two Exeter tries in two minutes gave the Chiefs the space they needed to win the game as first Tommy Wyatt and then Ethan Roots went over.

Saracens' match got worse when Harry Wilson was sent off for a shoulder to the head of Rusi Tuima with eight minutes to go, and Exeter took advantage as Dan Frost was mauled over a minute later.

Eroni Mawi was forced over after a period of pressure on the Exeter line in the final minute for a late consolation for the Londoners.

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* In the early game, Gloucester moved into the Premiership play-off places after claiming a thrilling 38-31 bonus-point victory over Leicester at Kingsholm.

The Tigers, humiliated by Champions Cup opponents Toulouse through an 80-12 defeat in France six days ago, played their part during a game of nine tries and countless attacking opportunities.

But they were undone by a rampant third-quarter performance that saw Gloucester score 21 unanswered points.

Santi Carreras collected 18 points, including a try, while there were also touchdowns for scrum-half Tomos Williams, centre Chris Harris, hooker Seb Blake and flanker Jack Clement as Gloucester triumphed.

Leicester were in charge until Gloucester's spectacular recovery, forging a healthy lead through tries from debutant wing Adam Radwan, full-back Mike Brown, centre Izaia Perese and lock Harry Wells, with flyhalf Handre Pollard kicking four conversions and a penalty.

But they struggled to cope when Gloucester found another gear, showcasing a box-office attacking game that has become their trademark this season.

Gloucester started brightly, with both wings Christian Wade and Max Llewellyn given opportunities to test Leicester's defence as the home side put their trademark pace and width on possession.

But Leicester opened the scoring through a ninth-minute try that had its origins in a powerful line-out drive, before Perese eased past Harris' attempted tackle to touch down, with Pollard converting.

Gloucester were not flustered, though, and they hit back just four minutes later when Llewellyn made a decisive midfield run and found his fellow Wales international Williams in support for an unopposed dash to the line.

Carreras' conversion levelled things up, yet Leicester regained the lead midway through an entertaining first half as a rock-solid scrum provided firm attacking foundations and Pollard's pass sent Brown over for Tigers' second try.

Pollard converted, then Gloucester had a try disallowed by New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe – he takes charge of England's Six Nations opener against Ireland next weekend – when Carreras was ruled offside after Wade went over in the corner.

But the full-back got it right 11 minutes before the interval, diving over for his team's second score after sustained pressure orchestrated by Williams, and Carreras' successful touchline conversion made it 14-14.

Gloucester were unable to capitalise on territorial dominance that saw force them a number of penalties, and Leicester punished them when Brown intercepted a pass inside his own 22, before finding a supporting Radwan, who marked his Leicester introduction by scoring from his first touch.

Pollard converted, and there was still time for Carreras to land a 35-metre penalty as Tigers took a 21-17 lead into the break.

Leicester secured a bonus point just three minutes into the second period when Wells touched down from close range. Pollard kicked his fourth conversion, and Gloucester faced a double-figures points deficit for the first time.

The thrills and spills continued at pace, and Gloucester were back within striking distance midway through the third quarter after Williams sent Clement over for a try that Carreras converted.

And Gloucester were not finished, capitalising on Leicester's disorganised state to conjure a brilliant team try for Harris – again converted by Carreras – and Tigers trailed by three.

Gloucester were on a roll, and after Perese was sin-binned – his fourth yellow card of the season – for a high challenge on Wade, Blake claimed his team's fifth try.

The home side had gone into overdrive, and there was little Leicester could do to stop them, although Pollard's late penalty ensured Tigers left the west country with two bonus points.

All the Saturday scorers and scorers below ...

Gloucester 38-31 Leicester Tigers

The scorers

For Gloucester
Tries: T Williams, Carreras, Clement, Harris, Blake
Cons: Carreras 5
Pen: Carreras

For Leicester Tigers
Tries: Perese, Brown, Radwan, Wells
Cons: Pollard 4
Pen: Pollard

Yellow card: Izaia Perese (Leicester Tigers, 58)

Teams

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Max Llewellyn, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Mayco Vivas.
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Josh Hathaway.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julian Montoya 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Come Joussain, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Joseph Woodward 23 Ben Volavola.

Referee: Ben O'Keeffe
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, John Meredith
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Exeter Chiefs 31-22 Saracens

The scorers

For Exeter Chiefs
Tries: Innard, Rigg, Wyatt, Roots, Frost
Cons: Skinner 3

For Saracens
Tries: Elliott 2, Mawi
Cons: Lozowski 2
Pen: Lozowski

Red card: Harry Wilson (Saracens, 74)
Yellow cards: Juan Martin Gonzalez (Saracens, 7), Franco Molina (Exeter, Chiefs, 80)

Teams

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Ben Hammersley, 13 Joe Hawkins, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Richard Capstick, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Franco Molina, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Zack Wimbush.

Saracens: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Brandon Jackson, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 Ivan van Zyl (captain), 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Nathan Michelow, 6 Max Eke, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Harry Wilson, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 1 Phil Brantingham.
Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Nick Tompkins, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Sam Spink.

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Sara Cox, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Dan Jones