Exeter Chiefs put in an excellent performance to cruise to a 41-17 victory over Stade Rochelais in their European Challenge Cup match this afternoon.
The home side took the lead as La Rochelle lost the ball while pushing upfield, and Ian Whitten picked up the loose ball and surged through the line. The Chiefs offloaded the ball to the left where Kai Horstmann went over in the corner, but the conversion was missed.
Exeter extended their lead as they won the ball from a five-man lineout deep in the visitors' territory, and they quickly set up a maul and drove towards the tryline where Greg Bateman was able to register the second score of the game. The conversion failed as this time it was blocked.
Fabien Fortassin brought his side back into the game with a kick from distance from a penalty, but Ceri Sweeney soon restored his team's 10-point advantage with a solid effort of his own.
The Chiefs powered further ahead when Fetu Vainikolo received the ball on the edge of the 22 and ran through a couple of tackles in his surge to score his side's third try of the game. Sweeney added the conversion from under the posts.
Matters got even better for the home side when their pack caused problems for La Rochelle as the visitors were forced to concede penalty try under severe pressure on the line, while Sweeney once again added the extra two points.
In the second half, Exeter compounded La Rochelle's woes when they went further ahead as Tom James ran in from the 22 as he used his power to blast his way through the visitors' defence to hand the home side a commanding lead.
The away side did get a score back with a wonderful flowing move as they cut apart the Chiefs' defence with incisive passes, which allowed Julien Berger to run in for the score under the posts, while the conversion was added to reduce the deficit to 24 points.
Adam Hughes bolstered their home side's winning margin with another score as slipped through a gap in the line to sprint over for the try, but Arthur Cestaro notched a consolation score in the 68th minute with another well-worked move.
Simon Sinclair
