Chiefs win but don't go through
Chiefs
By ExTeddChief
February 4 2013
ExTeddChief shares his Saturday with us...
Chiefs beat Saints but go out of the LV=
It’s ironic, the last report I did was also for a Chiefs vs Saints match. Since then of course we’ve been knocked out of the Heineken Cup and the Bath duck flat-tyres our LV Cup chances. We were still very much in the competition though.
So, it Satuday morning, wake up, go swimming, have brunch, then find out what my grandparents’ gameplan was. Eventually I headed round their place to catch England vs Scotland.
As for that match, well as an England fan I wasn’t sure how well we’d do on this occasion but the performance from the men in white certainly suggested that we’ll be a title contender. Scotland’s still my second team though and I couldn’t complain about their performance either, certainly not the Maitland try. Too early to tell how things will play out though.
After that, Grandma gave us a lift to Sandy Park and my grandfather and I got there just in time to see a load of former Exeter captains get introduced(one of who, Bob Staddon there’s apparently a family Tribe connection to!). This was going to be an interesting one. To remain in the competition we definitely needed to win and really we needed an WBP. Even then we’d still have to see what happened elsewhere. Still though, all my grandfather seemed to care about was that the Chiefs were wearing their “pink pajamas”.
To start with the first few minutes(weatched from the SW Comms Stand) seemed uneventful, but then a guy in pink pajamas zoomed up to the other end and once up there, it was only a matter of time. Ben White getting the score, Nacho converting. After a run of hit and miss performances the Chiefs were as lethal as ever once again setting up camp in the Saint’s half and soon we were cheering a second try thanks to Nowell.
It was new guy Watissoni Votu that was getting a lot of attention though and having sounded impressive when listening to the Bath match on the radio it was only a matter of time before he got a try for his new team and with the Chiefs still looking ruthless, the Tomahawk Chop sounded for him. Nacho converted and got a pen. Three down, one to go. On paper though, this Saints side weren’t complete mugs though, certainly not the weakest team I’ve seen come to Sandy Park on LV Cup business. I guess sooner or later they were going to get their act together and eventually they did rumble down this end...and over the line, Alex Waller claiming the credit.
Half time? Well my first order of business was the toilet. My grandfather went looking for a bite to eat only to find that the queues were too long. It was a bit cold for beer so it was back to our seats in anticipation of a fourth Chiefs try.
As it was though, a lot of action was at the other end again and this time around that was not good news. By the time White got binned we look nowhere near getting that fourth try and the Saints got themselves a second try thanks to Lee Dickson with Stephen Myler converting.
The Chiefs went back on the attack soon enough though and were able to force a few pens. Me, I’d have gone for the corner every time till we got that fourth try but Nacho had other ideas and booted a couple between the posts to keep things ticking over.
The second half though ultimately belonged to the Saints. First up Carrick-Smith became the second Chief to be binned that night. Then Dickson got his second try, converted by Myler.
Rob must have been yelling at the Chiefs about the fourth try though. The clock went red(or would have done) and grandfather reckoned the guys should have just kicked it out...instead they went on one last charge. If they had crossed the line it would have been awesome on multiple levels! It wasn’t to be though.
As it was the biggest challenge for us that evening was yet to come. Hell knows where the 78 had disappeared to but it was a very cold and very long wait. One with mixed emotions as well. On the one hand, well it was our win of 2013 amazingly. For now we were back on course for the semis. We really could have done with that WBP though as we now needed Ospreys to bury Harlequins that afternoon.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and I split my time following an online statcast of a Plymouth Raiders away game and the score from Ospreys vs Quins! Ultimately the WBP wouldn’t have cut it. Ultimately the Bath duck sunk our LV Cup chances this time around.
Ah well, we’ve certainly got our mojo back. Now, back to Premiership business.
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