Worcester Warriors 31 Exeter Chiefs 21

Exeter’s hopes of advancing in this season’s Anglo-Welsh Cup were dealt a potentially fatal blow as Worcester Warriors took the spoils in a high-scoring encounter at Sixways.

Ricky Pellow’s Chiefs outfit started the day top of the pile in Pool Two, but this five-try loss, coupled with Harlequins easily defeating Scarlets, means qualification hopes are now out of their hands.

A bonus point victory at home to Saracens is imperative next week, but even then that may not be enough as it would require Quins’ needing to slip up against Northampton Saints in their final pool fixture.

The youthful Chiefs, however, gave everything they could in this latest match-up. A strong first half display saw them lead 14-12 at the turn thanks to converted tries from Tom Lawday and Harry Strong, but thew Warriors countered with efforts of their own through Josh Adams and Dave Denton.

After the break the more experienced Warriors continued their revival as winger Tom Howe put them in front for the first time, but back roared the Chiefs with a third try from Shaun Malton.

The last quarter, though, belonged to the home side and with Adams adding a decisive fourth and replacement Luke Baldwin also finding his way over with just a minute remaining, it meant the Chiefs headed home without reward following a hard day’s toil.

Having collected earlier wins over Northampton Saints and the Scarlets, the Chiefs arrived in the Midlands looking to maintain their winning formula against a strong Worcester line-up, which included international stars including Denton, Francois Hougaard and skipper Donncha O’Callaghan.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, were well stocked up front with the likes of Moray Low, Elvis Taione, Julian Salvi and former Warriors favourite Kai Horstmann, while behind it was left to young guns Stu Townsend and Joe Simmonds to spearhead the visiting attack, which sounded it’s intent inside three minutes of the kick-off.

Tom Lawday goes over for Exeter's opening try of the game against Worcester
Forwards, Toby Salmon, Marcus Street and Ollie Atkins all made significant inroads into the home 22 with powerful carries, the fruits of which set the platform for No.8 Lawday to bulldoze his way over from close range for the game’s opening try, which Simmonds was able to convert with ease.

The Warriors looked to counter almost immediately at the other end, but sloppy hands from the hosts allowed the Chiefs to easily soak up the danger, before clearing their lines down field without too much issue.

With both sides looking to attack at every opportunity, it was providing a positive and bright outlook, even if the conditions overhead remained wet and gloomy.

For the full match rpeort, go to: https://www.exeterchiefs.co.uk/news/warriors-31-chiefs-21