Advertisement
C. Redpath (11'), van der Linde (17'), D. Preez (30'), F. Russell (40'), Penalty Try (61'), T. Hill (68')
Tries
S. Varney (24'), J. Yeandle (33'), J. Iosefa-Scott (45'), I. Feyi-Waboso (48', 54')
F. Russell (12', 18', 41', 69')
Conversions
H. Slade (46', 49', 55')
Penalties
H. Skinner (79')
This didn’t need a glossy post-match package to make sense. What decided it was right there on the field: Bath Rugby were cleaner at the set piece, sharper in the red zone, and ruthless across a pivotal 10-minute spell after the hour. Exeter Chiefs surged with ball in hand and very nearly nicked it again at the Rec, but they bled tackles, conceded a killer yellow, and couldn’t live with Bath’s finishers.
The rivalry’s recent chaos loomed over this – January’s comeback epic, May’s thumping at Sandy Park, June’s semi-final swing – and it felt for a while as if Exeter were about to rerun the heartbreak. They had more of the ball and, when they found width, looked lethal. But Bath won the fundamentals and the bench battle, which is why they walked away with five points and not a story of another collapse.
Strip it back and the hinge is simple. At 61 minutes, with Exeter 31–26 up and the Rec getting twitchy, Stephen Varney went to the bin and Bath were awarded a penalty try. Seven points, parity in numbers gone, momentum flipped. In that window, Bath squeezed, maul-heavy and direct, and a fresh Ted Hill crashed over to turn control into the winning margin. It wasn’t pretty. It was decisive.
Bath’s platform never wobbled. Six from six scrums, nine from nine lineouts, and a back five that hit their rucks and tackles. Tom Dunn, Will Stuart and Dan du Preez each hit double-digit tackles; Dunn also carried with intent. With clean ball, Bath didn’t faff: the first half was clinical, with Cameron Redpath picking smart lines, Bernard van der Linde sniping, and Finn Russell taking a try himself on the stroke of half-time that told you all you needed about their composure in the red zone. That score in particular hurt Exeter: from chasing a one-score game to a proper climb at the break.
Exeter’s counter was exactly what you’d expect: tempo, shape, and the best wing on the park. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso shredded Bath’s edge for two tries, 137 metres and five clean breaks; whenever the Chiefs got him quick ball, Bath’s spacing frayed. Josh Iosefa-Scott punched hard close in and picked up a try for it, Jack Yeandle did the same. With Henry Slade neat off the tee and pulling strings, the visitors produced a burst after half-time that had Bath backpedalling. That Exeter scored 21 unanswered in that phase tells its own story.
But this wasn’t a free-for-all. Where Bath absorbed those body blows and reset, Exeter unravelled when the squeeze came back on. The yellow to Varney was symptomatic: concede territory to a faultless set piece and you spend minutes under your posts. The Chiefs’ numbers also underline the problem: 40 missed tackles to Bath’s 33, and lineout and scrum success that sat a notch below Bath when it mattered. For all their carry count and territory, they couldn’t exit cleanly enough in the last quarter, nor slow Bath’s maul without flirting with cards.
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAKS
TACKLE
TACKLES MISSED
TURNOVERS WON
PENALTIES CONCEDED
YELLOW CARDS
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Individual moments mattered. Joe Cokanasiga was Bath’s throttle, four clean breaks and 77 metres that forced Exeter’s backfield to hold narrow; when they didn’t, Tom de Glanville cut in for 59 metres of his own. Russell’s try aside, his value was in tempo – kicking on his terms, then flattening up when Exeter hesitated. Off the bench, Hill’s finish made headlines, but Dan Frost and Archie Griffin added the grunt that kept the maul honest and the scrum stable after the reshuffle. Across the ball, Greg Fisilau grafted for Exeter, and Slade kept them connected. Yet too many one-on-one misses – Olly Woodburn’s four stood out – left them chasing their tails each time Bath got front-foot ball.
Does the margin flatter Bath? Not really. Exeter’s late penalty made it a six-point game on paper, but Bath posted six tries to five and controlled the decisive minutes with a man advantage. If anything, the shape of it – Bath dominant early, rattled after the break, then closing with set-piece accuracy – reads fair. You don’t go 100% at both primary platforms and cough up a result at home too often.
There are honest work-ons for the winners. Bath’s edge defence got exposed repeatedly, and they’ll see in review how easily Feyi-Waboso got the outside shoulder. Thirty-three missed tackles won’t fly against Northampton next week. But the resilience after momentum swung, and the impact off the bench, is what top-four sides bank on in tight nights at the Rec.
Exeter leave with one point and a reminder that their attacking shape is good enough to scare anyone, but the cracks are obvious: discipline under pressure, and a defence that falls off too many first contacts. Sort the set piece – 80% lineout, 75% scrum – and they probably don’t hand Bath the door back into this game. Keep Feyi-Waboso this involved and they’ll still win plenty; make him less of a bailout and they’ll win the ones like this.
So no grand narratives needed. Bath did the basics better, timed their punch, and backed their maul. Exeter flashed menace but blinked in the moments that decide close Premiership games. Both teams know exactly what that looks like by now – and both know what needs fixing before it costs them again.
