Dazzling Immanuel Feyi-Waboso leads Exeter Chiefs to top of table with victory over Bristol

Bristol Bears 14 Exeter Chiefs 24

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso received glowing praise from Rob Baxter after sparkling in front of a watching Steve Borthwick to help propel Exeter Chiefs to the Premiership summit. And if he continues to prove himself such a rough but exciting diamond, the tug-of-war over the youngster, born in Cardiff but who qualifies to play for both Wales and England, will intensify in the coming weeks and months.

The 21-year-old crossed in the first half and was a constant threat with ball in hand at Ashton Gate. He has yet to nail his international colours to the mast. But England head coach Borthwick, who sat beside potential Six Nations captain Ellis Genge in the crowd, will no doubt be keen to ensure he wears the red rose despite having already trained with the Wales squad.

And Exeter director of rugby Baxter insisted: “He’s an immense talent and the world is his oyster. For the amount he’s actually played it’s incredible. He is an inexperienced Premiership player who runs and carries the ball strongly, and is a huge talent. He has just agreed a long-term contract and I was delighted with him tonight.

“He is very determined to mix his rugby career with studying for his medical career. We need to help him become the best player he can be. We wont put any pressure on him to choose either England or Wales. It’s up to him.”

Exeter began strongly with prop Josh Iosefa-Scott ploughing his way over and Henry Slade converting. The hosts growled back noisily and powerfully with a driving maul pushing the Chiefs forwards back over their own line, hooker Gabriel Oghre claiming the score. Callum Sheedy squared things up with his conversion. Feyi-Waboso then showed his power and potential with an outstanding finish in the right corner after the ball was moved swiftly along the back line.

It was the kind of clinical display which suggests he can become something special. Bears replied to take a 14-12 half-time lead when another young wing, Noah Heward, provided the best finish of the night when he rounded off a strong move to take to the air and dive acrobatically across in the right corner. It had the Bristol fans roaring their approval and believing their side could make it three league wins on the bounce.

However, Exeter started the second half strongly with fly-half Stu Townsend pouncing to score a try after Feyi-Waboso’s strong run. The Bears defence was struggling to cope with the wing whenever he had ball in hand and had stepped up a couple of gears. Townsend merely picked up the ball from the back of a ruck after Feyi-Waboso had been stopped a few inches short, and reached across to ground it on the line before Bristol could react.

Townsend was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on a few minutes later to leave Chiefs down to 14. However, Bristol were unable to capitalise. Time and again they were stopped at the tackle line with the white jerseys forming a solid wall of defiance and having the intelligence and skill to frustrate their rivals into making mistakes.

Bears failed to make the most of their pressure when turning down a potential kick at goal which would have levelled matters, preferring to try for the score which would have put them ahead in the final seven minutes. And they suffered for it, as Chiefs’ forwards gained control of the ball and did not fail to strike when they had the chance.

Replacement flanker Jacques Vermeulen bulldozed his way across for a try three minutes from time to clinch a seventh victory of the domestic campaign for the visitors who are growing and improving as the season progresses towards the halfway stage.

Baxter enthused: “I couldn’t be more delighted with the way things are going in terms of the development of this side. We’re certainly not the finished article but we’re getting there. We’re doing a lot of good things and getting some decent results.”

Bears coach Pat Lam lamented: “We’re disappointed as a team getting nothing out the game, and also disappointed for the fans. We managed to carve out a slim half-time lead after the early setback and I thought we were in control of the game. But we were unable to keep up the pressure on them at the start of the second half and paid the price. We need to have longer spells of dominance and control of the ball and territory.”

Match details

Scores: 0-5, Iosefa-Scott, 0-7, Slade, 5-7, Oghre, 7-7, Sheedy, 7-12, Feyi-Waboso, 12-12, Heward, 14-12, Sheedy, 14-17, Townsend, 14-22, Vermeulen, 14-24, Slade
Bristol: Malins, Heward, Vakatawa, Janse Van Rensburg, Lane, Sheedy, Randall, Lahiff, Oghre, Sinckler, Dun, Batley, Luatua, D. Thomas, Bradbury.
Replacements: Ravouvou for Vakatawa (74), Williams for Sheedy (74), Marmion for Randall (74), Woolmore for Lahiff (41), Capon for Oghre (68), Kloska for Sinckler (68), Caulfield for Dun (66), Owen for D. Thomas (79).
Exeter: Hammersley, Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Devoto, Woodburn, Skinner, Townsend, Abuladze, Frost, Iosefa-Scott, Tuima, Jenkins, Roots, Vintcent, Fisilau.
Replacements: Hawkins for Devoto (57), Wimbush for Woodburn (61), Cairns for Townsend (79), Hepburn for Abuladze (55), Norey for Frost (55), Street for Iosefa-Scott (55), Pearson for Tuima (58), Vermeulen for Vintcent (58).
Sin Bin: Townsend (45).
Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU).