Exeter’s Thomas Waldrom snatches win from Saracens to tighten play-off battle

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/10/saracens-exeter-match-report

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Not unlike the last day of this year’s Six Nations championship the final round of Aviva Premiership matches will be as laden with tension as any in recent memory. Exeter are not yet guaranteed to finish in the top four for the first time in their history but the desire and resilience which chopped down Saracens on Sunday has added a fresh dimension to the play-off equation.

The upshot is that Leicester must beat the leaders, Northampton, at home or face the possible indignity of finishing outside the leading quartet, a fate they have not suffered for 11 years. If Leicester win, Exeter, with a better points-difference of only three over Saracens, virtually have to match at home to Sale what Saracens do to London Welsh in Oxford. Given Northampton are duty bound to make life tough for Leicester and Sale could still sneak into Europe, nothing is guaranteed.

It is even possible Leicester could yet be snookered by their former No8 Thomas Waldrom, whose two close-quarter tries here took him to 16 for the season, equalling Neil Back’s record for a Premiership forward. Another score from Waldrom on Saturday will draw him level with Dominic Chapman, the former Richmond winger, who set his long-standing record in the last century.

No wonder the Chiefs’ head coach, Rob Baxter, could be seen punching the air as his team, having trailed three times, closed out a gripping contest. If last-ditch tackles by Henry Slade on David Strettle and Matt Jess on Chris Ashton caught the eye, so did the physicality and collective purpose of the Chiefs’ forwards against opponents who have spearheaded England’s challenge in Europe this year.

While it helped that Billy Vunipola, with a slight ankle tweak, was not involved for Saracens, it was hard to disagree with Baxter’s view that the Chiefs – who have lost seven league games this season by a solitary score – displayed the necessary mental steel when it mattered. “The level of intensity we showed was what you need if you want to win big games at this time of year,” said Baxter.

“We now have to repeat that at home [against Sale]. We can’t crumble under pressure. We’ve got to be the big boys and stand strong.”

The arithmetic, to some extent, is against the Chiefs, with Saints already certain of a semi-final home draw and Saracens liable to score a bonus point against Welsh. If we have learned anything over the past five years, however, it is that Devonian cussedness is a potent force.

Twice Exeter went behind in the first half as Saracens, so dangerous on the counter, took maximum advantage of two half-breaks, good approach work from Jamie George and Marcello Bosch putting Chris Ashton over for the first and Strettle’s back-flip to Wyles maximising a turnover forced by the impressive Maro Itoje. To most eyes in the stadium the Strettle pass looked forward but the relevant officials ruled otherwise.

Each time the Chiefs responded positively, with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Waldrom rewarding their side’s patient pressure in the home 22. At 17-17 with the wind behind them in the second half, the stage seemed set for Saracens but, while Owen Farrell kicked one penalty, he missed another long-range effort to permit the Chiefs a whiff of encouragement.

On another day potential scoring passes from Alex Goode and Farrell aimed at Ashton and Strettle out wide might also have gone to hand but there was nothing fortunate about Waldrom’s second try in the 71st minute, the New-Zealand-born England international cleverly touching down against the base of the goalpost padding.

Mark McCall, Saracens’ director of rugby, was understandably downcast, suggesting it was “terrible that we’ve got ourselves in this situation.”

He is now hoping Sale finish more strongly than they did in Munster at the end of their European campaign but felt the Exeter pack were cut too much slack here. “The manner in which they scored their three tries is not good enough. Each one of them felt like a slow death and inevitable.”

The biggest remaining question is whether the Chiefs can complete the job. They will have Jack Nowell available again – the England wing missed this game because Exeter consider it too risky to play him on artificial surfaces – and will need no motivation for what Baxter is calling “the biggest game any of the guys have ever played for Exeter”. Their improving season is far from over.

Saracens Goode; Ashton, Bosch (Tomkins, 55), Wyles, Strettle (Farrell, 52); Hodgson, Wigglesworth (capt; De Kock, 71); M Vunipola, George (Brits, 49), Du Plessis (Johnston, 49), Kruis, Itoje (Joubert, 71), Brown (Hargreaves, 55), Burger, Wray.

Tries Ashton, Wyles. Cons Hodgson 2. Pens Hodgson, Farrell.

Exeter McGuigan; Whitten, Slade, Hill, Jess; Steenson, Chudley; Moon (Rimmer, 55), Cowan-Dickie (Yeandle, 55), Francis (Brown, 55), Mumm (capt), Lees (Welch, 58), Ewers, White (Hortsmann, 58), Waldrom.

Tries Cowan-Dickie, Waldrom 2. Cons Steenson 3. Pen Steenson.

Referee JP Doyle (RFU).

Att 9,815.