Match Review

Exeter Chiefs 45 Coventry 8

Once again a much changed Exeter Chiefs squad came up with the goods and scored an emphatic seven tries.  It could have been a few more had it not been for a combination of factors.  Coventry defended in a determined way and frustrated the Chiefs early on, only managing to get out of their own half on a few occassions in the first half.  Whilst the Chiefs scrum was in control their lineout was missing a beat.  Several long throws went astray in promising positions, one for Rob Baxter to look at before Monday but probably a combination of thrower and jumper/lifters.  Having said this they made a mess of Coventry's lineout on a few times.  Whilst Cov battled all match it was obvious from the first few minutes that the Chiefs were up for a big score. 

Forwards - A strong allround performance from the forwards who dominated Cov's pack.  It was good to see Brett Sturgess back in action and he had a good game, showing his pace alongside Dan Tuohy in the backs leading to a Ben Breeze try.  Both Dan Tuohy and The Tribe's sponsored player Lewis Stevenson carried the ball well, making ground and punching holes in the Cov defence.  Tom Johnson really enjoyed himself running hard at his old club and injects real pace from the back row.  In all the pack shoved Cov all over the place but referee Keith Lewis appeared happy to re-set the scrum time after time without sanction.

Backs - The Chiefs have really looked dangerous this season once the ball is in the backs and today's match was no exception.  Man of the Match, Mark Fatialofa was running some good lines and tore through the Cov back line on several occasions.  Outside him new signing Paul McKenzie had a great game scoring twice on only his second outing.  Paul seems to have settled into the side very quickly and looks a great signing by Pete Drewett, showing good speed and running some great lines.  Matt Jess showed his pace to good effect and Nic Sestaret continues tio impress with his all round game.  He has great spped, good hands and reads the game so well.  It was great to see Ben Breeze back and it's clear he hasn't lost any of his pace or hunger for the game.  Playing fullback for the Chiefs is clearly a good position to score tries as Ben picked up where Sean Marsden left off.  It was also good to see Ed Lewsey, who looked sharp, get some game time at scrum half.

Referee - Gave good signals, was very tolerant at the scrum, didn't spot a few forward passes but his main contribution to the game was getting in the way!!

Supporters - Another 4000+ crowd in good voice and really starting to pick up the Native American chant.  I spotted a couple of War Bonnet's (headdress) in the crowd and I'm going to write a piece about alternative headdress' soon.  There's a lot more noise comeing from the East terrace now and it's good to hear they have their own drummer. 

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