Exeter XXIII vs Newport-Gwent Dragons

EXETER CHIEFS TEAM TO FACE DRAGONS

15 Luke Arscott
14 Nic Sestaret
13 Jason Shoemark
12 Phil Dollman
11 Matt Jess
10 Ignacio Mieres
9 Pat Phibbs
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Simon Alcott
3 Craig Mitchell
4 Tom Hayes (capt)
5 Chris Bentley
6 Ben White
7 James Scaysbrook
8 James Phillips

16 Neil Clark
17 Hoani Tui
18 John Andress
19 Aly Muldowney
20 Dave Ewers
21 Kevin Barrett
22 Gareth Steenson
23 Josh Tatupu

Just the 4 changes from last time - Gonzo Camacho gets a rest and Nic Sestaret slides over to take his place, with Shoey back in the centres to partner Dolly. Pat Phibbs comes off the bench at 9, replaced by Kevin Barrrett, with Haydn Thomas taking a break. Sturge is back in the front row in place of Hoani Tui who drops to the bench at the expense of Budgie, and Scays is back at openside with Ben White switiching to blindside and displacing Richie Baxter who also gets a deserved rest. Expect similar tactics to last week, keeping it tight until clear scoring opportunities present themselves - let's hope the ref is savvy to Dragons spoiling tactics in their red zone tho this time

Drive, kick, repeat

munkian, you missed out some bits: Drive, Dragons interfere illegally in ruck, kick, illegal blocking from Dragons, repeat - no need to thank me

if we get parity up front you could be in for a long night, saying that its a big IF lol

Why do you think that, GD? Do you think that your backline is that much stronger? Slightly surprised that you are so man sausage-sure - oh well, Sunday will tell.

based on the fact tht our backs did more in 20mins than yours did in 80 and you couldnt cross the line when we were down to 14, im gunna have to say yes

Going to have to agree with Gavindragon - you didnt make any line breaks, did your wingers actually touch the ball ?

If we up the tempo from the off then I dont think you have alot to counter with IMHO

Wonder if it will be as violent as last time Exter were at DaveParade

I presume you're referring to the first 20 of the second half, when you saw most of the ball. During that period your gameplan seemed to be ... exactly the same as the Chiefs?! Let's be honest, the conditions weighed heavily against expansive rugby, and to imagine that the Chiefs should have flung the ball about just cos we enjoyed the majority of possession is positively naive imo. Personally, I believe that Exe have the pack to enjoy as much ball as they did at home, and who knows, after 3-4 phases thru the middle, you might get to see the real Exe backline - as long as we get to recycle the ball cleanly unlike at SP. To up the tempo, you're going to have to win the ball at the set piece - not sure I see that happening tbh. Anyhew, may the best team on the day win

Our line out nicked your ball severall times didnt it ?

But yes, may the best team on the day win

I'm reminded of the Championship double header, when Chiefs played a very tight strategy to earn a narrow win at Sandy Park, then spent the week analysing Bris down to their shoelaces. A fairly convincing win in the pouring rain at the Mem followed - the greatest night in Exe's long history, until we win the Amlin this season

I'll be honest As, I'm sure you had your Chiefs glasses on but through my Dragons glasses all I could see for 25 minutes (that I could put up with watching) was your guys off their feet and not getting pinged.

Can't call the result really. I am glad that Tovey is at ten for us and that Chav and Brewy are back. I prefer Tovey's kickoffs too, as Steff seemed keen to kick long all the time. We certainly aren't going to get parity up front though. It's great that Wayne is back at 9 though, as Bedford seems to pee about before getting the ball away recently.

Best of luck Dragons by 99 and the Afghan streak is over

Well I fancy us to sneak this one, but I have a soft spot for Exeter. I enjoy watching them play and I think they've been good for the English league.

One good thing about the Dragons being in this competition is the games are on S4C as I refuse to pay for Sky to watch sport at a premium cost.

Thank goodness Tovey, Brew and Evans are starting I suspect we may see some tries this week, I may be bias but the Dragons to win by 5 points.

Much better start from the Dragons

excellent try by Faletau

Great try from Faletau assisted by Tovey and Brew. Need to keep the tempo up in fairness Exerter they are playing rugby unlike the Sarries against the Ospreys. Well done so far by both teams giving good value to the paying pubic.

glamorganalun wrote:One good thing about the Dragons being in this competition is the games are on S4C as I refuse to pay for Sky to watch sport at a premium cost.

Thank goodness Tovey, Brew and Evans are starting I suspect we may see some tries this week, I may be bias but the Dragons to win by 5 points.

Evening Alun mate............. hope you are enjoying the match, great try by the way

Try Lemon TV (shhhh I didnt say that)............. you should get all the sky games

Flyhalf:

Thanks for that I will do a search. It is a levely game, your team did well against the Blues.

Why aren't Johnson, Scaysbrook, Naqelevuki, Short, Shoemark, Camancho & Percival playing for Exeter? Injured?

Shocking throw by Burns put Exeter right back in the game.

The Chiefs are howling in the stands.....

Only one team going to win this and not the Dragons

Well deserved try there for Chiefs.
19-23
Ref is having a shocker though - definite yellow just before try with knock on preventing a try.
Imaginary knock on before that.

The Dragons 12 is a waste of space, a duff buy

Good win by Chiefs , don't know where we go from here - certainly not out the pool and certainly not to the Heino.

I wouldn't say he is duff just yet,2Nd full game in a long time let alone with a misfiring team.

Toby is an absolute.e star, glad we've kept him for a few years and hope we achieve something with him before some millionaire French team buy him

Well done Chiefs! Good comeback.

A win for Sale too.

Disband us. We are officially the worst thing since the creation of man. Embarrassing.

Why have we bought the Tuilangi that doesnt like tackling????Not clever with the ball either.
Exeter lumps just blew us away.Toby and Dan stood out for us.Brew looked in line for a good one til he got crocked.
Back to the drawing board.

niwatts wrote:Why aren't Johnson, Scaysbrook, Naqelevuki, Short, Shoemark, Camancho & Percival playing for Exeter? Injured?

There's no Percival at Exe, Short is still recovering from his broken leg, and Naqer is still recovering from his broken arm

Good result for the Chiefs, hopefully Dragons fans are a little more convinced by us now. Prato away next and then USAP at home - would love for us to clean up in both of those. Two big prem games coming up next tho, Irish away on boxing day (we need them to play like they did yesterday) and then Quins at home on Hogmanay (that'll be really tough, altho we did push them at the Stoop)

Taff:

Tuilangi looks like another journey man picking up a fat wage when we could have a local lad to mis tackles a lot cheaper.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

niwatts wrote:Why aren't Johnson, Scaysbrook, Naqelevuki, Short, Shoemark, Camancho & Percival playing for Exeter? Injured?

There's no Percival at Exe, Short is still recovering from his broken leg, and Naqer is still recovering from his broken arm

Good result for the Chiefs, hopefully Dragons fans are a little more convinced by us now. Prato away next and then USAP at home - would love for us to clean up in both of those. Two big prem games coming up next tho, Irish away on boxing day (we need them to play like they did yesterday) and then Quins at home on Hogmanay (that'll be really tough, altho we did push them at the Stoop)

Thanks for the info As. Oops, yes, Percival is at Worcester, thought he was a Chief for some reason. Any ideas about Johnson, Scaysbrook & Camancho. Difficult to believe they have fallen out of favour, must be injured or saved for Premieship duty surely?

Think Scays played today? TJ and Gonzo both being rested, yup

Nope Scaysbrook definitely didn't feature today. Ineresting to see that Exeter clearly focusing primarily on the AP. Good luck to them, hope they at least get a HC place this year.

Glam,I could not agree more.When will we learn.Whoever scouts for these journeymen needs shooting unless he is paying the Dragons to play!!!

niwatts wrote:Nope Scaysbrook definitely didn't feature today. Ineresting to see that Exeter clearly focusing primarily on the AP. Good luck to them, hope they at least get a HC place this year.

Ah right, probably being rested then. Think our squad has enough depth to concentrate on 2 out of 3 of AP, LV= & Amlin, but just 2. HC would be grand, altho I think it might be a year ahead of plan

Well done Exeter. I eat my words. How do I explain that usually we're a different beast at home but on this occasion we weren't?! I can't really. You'll have to take my word for it.

Seriously though, another inept performance from the Dragons. There's one thing being outplayed and dominated and there's another just handing the opposition the advantage. I've been a fan long enough to know that we're a lot better than that. We often win games even with a retreating scrum so that can't be to blame either. Just another example of not being at all up for it, which is a bit rare at home where we're used to a higher standard from our boys.

Griff,

I was there yesterday (first visit since redevelopment) but we just seemed to miss that 'something' which was there before.

Atmosphere I thought was great and Chiefs fans loved it to joining in with singing and their own drum beating.

You and few others on the board obviously go more than me but is there any off field distractions at the moment (other than Charteris going).

I have alsways said we miss Smith in the centre though I was looking forward to the Tuilagi Hughes combo it didn't come off.

Back row was in top form and A Jones in 2nd row looks to be great prospect, even old timer Sidoli won some good lineout ball but as I said there just seemed to be 'something' missing.

When we got the 10 point cushion just before the break I honestly thought we would kick on but fair play to the Chiefs they came out well and when they were camped on our line in last minutes a score was inevitable.

The key for me was that the Chiefs' replacement front row was stronger than the one that started the game. Once they got the upper hand up front, it seemed inevitable they would go on to win the game. Still, Toby's try was brilliant - most number eights would have gathered the ball and just hoofed it clear without even looking to see if a counter-attack was on. He's a great footballer.

Don't feel bad, Chiefs seem to have an effect on other teams. It's hard to describe, i think we just sneak up on teams and before they know it we've won. No real champagne, stand out moments just slow, steady, grinding pressure! Great to watch!

Thought Faletau was amazing again, what a player you've got there absolute star! Shame about Brew, he was looking very good. Balls of brass to keep playing whilst crocked!

I agree with luckless - the bench made all the difference for the Chiefs. Very disappointing not to have kicked on in the second half. Not enough control and not enough fighting spirit.

Well done Chiefs.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

niwatts wrote:Nope Scaysbrook definitely didn't feature today. Ineresting to see that Exeter clearly focusing primarily on the AP. Good luck to them, hope they at least get a HC place this year.

Ah right, probably being rested then. Think our squad has enough depth to concentrate on 2 out of 3 of AP, LV= & Amlin, but just 2. HC would be grand, altho I think it might be a year ahead of plan

niwatts, apologies, I lied - Scays failed a late fitness test and Shoey had picked up the flu, so both resulted in late changes to the team originally selected

bedfordwelsh wrote:Griff,

I was there yesterday (first visit since redevelopment) but we just seemed to miss that 'something' which was there before.

Atmosphere I thought was great and Chiefs fans loved it to joining in with singing and their own drum beating.

You and few others on the board obviously go more than me but is there any off field distractions at the moment (other than Charteris going).

I have alsways said we miss Smith in the centre though I was looking forward to the Tuilagi Hughes combo it didn't come off.

Back row was in top form and A Jones in 2nd row looks to be great prospect, even old timer Sidoli won some good lineout ball but as I said there just seemed to be 'something' missing.

When we got the 10 point cushion just before the break I honestly thought we would kick on but fair play to the Chiefs they came out well and when they were camped on our line in last minutes a score was inevitable.

Bedford, I agree that there is something missing. I can't put my finger on it but it seems that our usual intensity and urgency at home, which is the very thing we lose when away from home, is not there. We sort of had it against Perpignan and caught them a bit cold with some quick tries. However, I haven't seen much of it elsewhere this season. It's always difficult to say we lost because we played crap because that doesn't give the oppostion credit for making you play crap. However, we are just not at the races at the moment and some of the fluid running rugby that Edwards instilled last season has evaporated (apart from the Faletau try yesterday).

I haven't been impressed with Tuilagi so far. He's probably been thrown in at the deep end a bit and doens't know all of the moves yet so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. However, I'm not sure he'll be the messiah we were hoping for in midfield!

Perhaps for once you came up against a side that doesn't lie down for the last 20 mins? Exe are renowned for playing the full 80, having salvaged plenty of wins and LBPs in the last quarter of the game - Rob Baxter is also a very canny coach and seems to have the knack of being able to analyse what the oppo are up to at half-time and to have Exe counteract that in the 2nd half

We have a history of letting games slip away from us - Exeter is just one of many.