Exeter Chiefs rout Bristol Bears as Ellis Genge falls foul of referee

Ellis Genge endured a frustrating evening as Exeter Chiefs crashed Ashton Gate and thrashed Bristol Bears.

Jack Nowell and Olly Woodburn bagged two tries each with Richard Capstick delivering another fine display, punctuated by the last of his team’s seven scores. Henry Slade looked polished, too. No wonder Ali Hepher heralded a “special” away performance.

“We’ve built leads and let sides back into games this season,” said Hepher after Exeter had redeemed their loss to Sale Sharks last weekend. “There was none of that today. We’re learning.”

It was a tougher assignment for Genge. He was marched back 10 metres by referee Christophe Ridley on two separate occasions in the second half, having been fortunate to escape a red card in the first for a clear-out that rattled Jonny Gray’s head.

“It’s relentless when you are against Exeter,” rued Pat Lam, the Bears boss. “It’s one of those nights and we are obviously not happy about it. I’m disappointed for the crowd. That wasn’t good enough for our club.”

Bristol would unravel late in the piece but, much earlier, they rode to the first points on the back of Exeter indiscipline. The visitors conceded three penalties and a free-kick within five minutes. Turning down kicks at goal, Bears flexed their forward muscle before heading wider.

Under pressure from onrushing defenders, Callum Sheedy clipped the ball towards the touchline with his left foot to an unmarked Toby Fricker. For his next trick, Sheedy used his right boot to split the posts.

Genge moved home from Leicester Tigers for nights like these and he tore out of the line to clatter Christ Tshiunza. Bristol could have extended their lead but Fricker’s break amounted to nothing. Then the tide turned.

Joe Simmonds opened Exeter’s account with a penalty before Genge careered into a breakdown and appeared to hit Gray in the face with his shoulder. Ridley decided there was not “a high level of danger”. Afterwards, Lam argued that it was Genge’s biceps that had rocked Gray.

Exeter punished the sin bin immediately, either way. Capstick, preferred to Sam Simmonds at the base of the Chiefs scrum, gathered a line-out brilliantly and a maul rumbled close. With the Bristol defence hopelessly narrow, Stuart Hogg could give Nowell a walk-in.

Jacques Vermeulen’s carrying helped sweep Exeter into range for number two. Pat Lam had sacrificed Fricker for Jake Woolmore while Genge was on the naughty step, so Chiefs opted for a scrum put-in after being awarded a penalty five metres out.

Slade looped a long pass over to Woodburn, who stretched over in impressive style. Joe Simmonds’ conversion was Genge’s cue to return.

A series of scrum penalties eked out one more Bristol chance prior to half-time. Randall, wearing a blue bandage around his head that had been applied during a trip to the blood-bin, fumbled just short of the whitewash.

Chiefs’ defence, resolute and hard-working, held out and they were in the same corner of Ashton Gate within seconds the resumption. Bristol spilled the restart and infringed at the resulting scrum, Genge surrendering 10 metres because of back-chat.

Genge and Kyle Sinckler rescued the situation soon enough, though, splintering Exeter’s set piece, but Genge was in Ridley’s bad books again with half an hour to go.

He conceded a penalty in a tit-for-tat scrummaging contest and what appeared to be a theatrical shrug – explained by Lam as a “misunderstanding”, because Genge was apologising to team-mates – incurred the wrath of the referee. Ridley walked Bristol 10 metres further, warning the prop that any more “gesticulating” would bring about a red card.

Hepher hails 'phenomenal' Chiefs

Chiefs pulled away. Another slick flick of the wrists from Slade allowed Woodburn to finish acrobatically. Luke Cowan-Dickie, a useful replacement for the inspired Jack Yeandle, then lifted a deft inside pass and Nowell bustled through.

Will Capon registered a Bristol consolation but within moments Cowan-Dickie intercepted Chris Vui to extinguish any hope for the hosts. Ruben van Heerden powered across to nudge Exeter into the 40s and Capstick was the man to notch the half-century.

Lurking on the wing, where Fricker had begun the evening, the loping back-rower collected a Harvey Skinner kick-pass.

Although Hepher revealed that Sam Simmonds had been nursing a minor “niggle” after being away with England in the week, he suggested that Capstick, a “phenomenal talent”, might have started anyway.

“He’s big, he’s a good line-out presence, he’s got skills, he can score tries,” Hepher said of the 22-year-old. “I couldn’t be more pleased for the players, all the way through the 23. They were phenomenal tonight.”

Match details

Scoring: 5-0 Fricker try, 7-0 Sheedy conversion, 7-3 J Simmonds, 7-8 Nowell try, 7-10 J Simmonds conversion, 7-15 Woodburn try, 7-17 J Simmonds conversion, 7-22 Woodburn try, 7-24 J Simmonds conversion, 7-29 Nowell try, 7-31 Slade conversion, 12-31 Capon try, 14-31 MacGinty conversion, 14-36 Cowan-Dickie, 14-38 Slade conversion, 14-43 Van Heerden try, 14-45 Slade conversion, 14-50

Bristol Bears: C Piutau (J Bates, 70); T Fricker (J Woolmore, 22-29), P O’Conor, S Bedlow, R Lane; C Sheedy (A MacGinty, 58), H Randall (T Whiteley, 32-38, ); E Genge (J Woolmore, 17), W Capon (J Kerr, 63), K Sinckler (M Lahiff, 58), J Hawkins (E Holmes, 58), J Joyce, C Vui, J Heenan ( D Thomas, half-time), M Bradbury

Exeter Chiefs: S Hogg (H Skinner, 50); J Nowell, H Slade, R O’Loughlin, O Woodburn; J Simmonds (S Kata, 71), J Maunder (S Maunder, 58); A Hepburn ( J Iosefa-Scott, 58), J Yeandle (L Cowan-Dickie, 52), H Williams (P Schickerling, 58) , J Kirsten (R van Heerden, 52), J Gray, J Vermeulen (D Ewers, 62), C Tshiunza, R Capstick

Referee: C Ridley

Yellow cards: Genge 16, O’Conor 70

Attendance: 19,365