Exeter Chiefs player ratings from London Irish win – ‘Superman in disguise’

Exeter Chiefs made it three wins on the bounce in the Gallagher Premiership with a comfortable 26-3 victory over London Irish at Sandy Park on Saturday night.

Sam Simmonds touched down for a brace of tries to go with scores from Alex Cuthbert and Dave Ewers to secure an attacking bonus point win.

Joe Simmonds landed a pair of conversions and his replacement Harvey Skinner slotted one to complete the scoring for the Devon side.

All the Exiles had to show for their trip to the South West was a single penalty kick from Paddy Jackson.

Exeter Chiefs rugby writer John Evely takes a closer look at the individual Exeter Chiefs performances.

Read More

Ollie Devoto of Exeter Chiefs looks to break past Theo Brophy Clews and Terrence Hepetema of London Irish

15 Josh Hodge – 7

The young full-back, who is still just 20, is full of adventure and looked to back himself from everywhere on the pitch, when he did kick it was accurate and long.

Hodge beat 10 defenders which is likely to end up being a league high in Round Nine, making 93m in attack.

Hotstepper and a real talent for the future.

14 Alex Cuthbert – 8

The winger second a successive try and this one was perhaps even more impressive than his solo effort against Newcastle Falcons last weekend.

The former Wales international handed off Theo Brophy Clews and sped through the gap he created to race in from 30m out in a display of some world class finishing.

Departed just after the hour mark, hopefully not with injury.

13 Tom Hendrickson – 6

The centre was unable to make a significant impact with ball in hand and knocked on a couple of times.

12 Ollie Devoto – 7

The centre really does punch well above his weight as he got Chiefs on the frontfoot with every carry despite there being some extremely powerful men in the Exiles’ backline.

11 Tom O’Flaherty – 7

The winger constantly came off his wing looking for work and found it has he stepped, wriggled and spun to get himself over the gain line despite London Irish largely having an organised defence in front of him. Finished with 84m from 13 carries which is a decent return.

10 Joe Simmonds – 7

The pivotal fly-half departed moments before half time after a freak collision which saw the side of his head catch the knee of big number eight Albert Tuisue as he tripped in front of the rampaging forward. Simmonds failed his HIA.

Before that he was on the money with everything he did, with Exeter looking very sharp and composed during his time on the pitch.

9 Jack Maunder – 7

The barring a couple of loose passes which asked a bit too much of his team mates the scrum half had a good day at the office with his pack providing relatively clean ball despite the poachers in London Irish’s backrow trying to spoil whenever they could.

1 Alec Hepburn – 8

The prop had an outstanding game in defence as he led Exeter’s rush out to in defence which largely saw the Devonside contain the London Irish backline from cutting free. Solid in the scrum.

2 Jack Yeandle – 7

The hooker and captain always put his hand up to do the hard yards without much joy today. Conceded a couple of turnover but did well in the line out in the gusty conditions.

3 Harry Williams – 8

Having called up Rob Baxter as soon as he heard he was dropped by England this week to ask to play this weekend for his club, the tighthead played like he had a point to prove, getting on top in the scrum and battering away tirelessly in the loose to finish as Exeter’s top tackler with 12.

4 Will Witty – 9

The second row had a colossal game as he was key in the rush defence and carried hard throughout. He seemed to be everywhere on the pitch and had really telling involvements.

5 Sam Skinner – 8

The lock had a big game ensuring Exeter won the physical battle. He was a key line out jumper along with Sam Simmonds and stole line out ball from London Irish as well.

6 Dave Ewers – 8

The huge flanker never has a bad game. In many ways he is the granite which the foundations of this Chiefs pack is built upon, adding power to their setpiece and getting through a prodigious amount of work for someone who is 19 and half stone.

Rarely does Ewers get the glory but he used all his strength and size to touch down for his second try of the season in the first half after breaking off a maul, despite opposite number Ben Donnell doing a good job trying to hold him up.

7 Richard Capstick – 7

The flanker celebrated his 21st birthday with another comfortable performance at this level. London Irish didn’t have enough of the ball to see the best of his jackling game but he was highly proficient in all that he did. He is making a serious claim for the jersey in the big games with everyone back.

8 Sam Simmonds – 9

I am running out of superlatives to describe the supreme athlete that is Sam Simmonds. The man is an absolute try machine, scoring twice at Sandy Park today to make it 11 in the league for the season. The number eight is absolutely racing towards the single season record which is 17 by Christian Wade back in 2016/17 and Dominic Chapman of Richman in 1997/98.

Simmonds has already matched last season’s top try scorers Ollie Thorley and Ben Earl, of Gloucester and Bristol Bears respectively who both finished with 11.

Both his finishes this week were short range bursts through the forwards, but perhaps his mist eye-catching moment was a 60m break from close to his own try line after London Irish overthrew the lineout into the hands of Simmonds who stepped the first defender and raced away like a galloping back.

He is Superman in disguise.

1 Exeter Chiefs

Are you mad about Exeter Chiefs?

If so, you could receive the latest club news straight to your phone by signing up to our FREE WhatsApp service.

Exeter Chiefs writer John Evely will send you links to the breaking stories, direct to your mobile, via the easy-to-use app.

Among the things you can expect are transfer news, interviews, match reports, injury updates, team news and live blogs. You could even use it to ask him a question.

If you would like to sign up, save the number 07715 770289 to your phone (you must do this to receive our messages), then send EXETER CHIEFS in a message to that number via WhatsApp. We recommend saving the contact to your mobile as ‘Exeter Chiefs News’.

To unsubscribe at any time, just send STOP EXETER CHIEFS via WhatsApp to the same number and you will be removed from the service. Your number will not be used for any purpose other than to update you on all things Exeter Chiefs.

Replacements:

16 Jack Innard – 6

17 James Kenny – 6

18 Marcus Street – 6

19 Don Armand – 6

20 Sean Lonsdale

21 Stu Townsend – 6

22 Harvey Skinner – 7

23 Ian Whitten – 7

Recommended For You