Wasps 20-23 Exeter: Chiefs secure first Premiership crown
Last Updated: 27/05/17 6:24pm
Exeter were crowned champions for the first time in their 146-year history after Gareth Steenson nailed a penalty in extra time to give them a 23-20 win over Wasps at Twickenham on Saturday.
In one of the most exciting finals for years, both sides were willing to attack at every opportunity, however the nerves were showing with dropped balls and wide passes.
Exeter, who were only promoted to the Premiership in 2010, opened up the scoring after 13 minutes as Jack Nowell cut inside from a lineout and raced over to score.
It was a clever move from Chiefs who looked certain to set up their famous driving maul, but hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie ran around after throwing in the ball and then released Nowell coming in at pace on the switch. Steenson added the extras.
Wasps got on the scoreboard several minutes later after they showed their attacking prowess that came to an end when James Haskell knocked on, but referee JP Doyle was playing advantage and Jimmy Gopperth kicked over the penalty.
Exeter's second try came on the 29th minute and also came off the set-piece: this time the scrum as Ollie Devoto smashed through the midfield before a brilliant offload to Phil Dollman who dived over, with Steenson converting.
With time running out in the first half, Wasps looked for a response and hammered away at the Exeter line but their defence was superb and when Christian Wade knocked on under pressure, The Chiefs raced downfield and Wasps were forced into defending once again.
With time up in the first half, Wasps finally got the try they needed as Jimmy Gopperth went over after running an excellent supporting line to take the ball off Dan Robson. Gopperth converted his try to bring Wasps to within four points at the break.
Wasps had a superb start to the second half and scored their second try when Elliot Daly went over.
It was made by Nathan Hughes who turned the ball over for Wasps with a massive tackle and then regathered the ball and left a trail of Chiefs in his wake. The ball went wide to Wade who kicked ahead only for the ball to kick back over his head - however Daly showed his pace by keeping up with Wade and managed to regather to score, leap over Olly Woodburn and score.
Gopperth converted to give Wasps the lead for the first time in the game. The Chiefs lost Dollman to injury and his replacement Henry Slade had an opportunity to kick for touch in a similar position to his match-winner touchfinder against Saracens in the semi-final, however this time the ball ended up on the wrong side of the flag.
Gopperth extended that lead with another penalty on the 52 minute but Steenson clawed three points back with a penalty of his own as we headed into the final quarter.
Exeter upped the ante and went through 34 phases as they hammered away at the Wasps line - the Wasps defence were clinging on though but conceded a penalty when Willie le Roux was judged to be offside.
The Chiefs spurned the chance of three points and opted for the scrum, however Wasps responded and held them up as once again they hammered away at the try line.
However Michele Campagnaro then knocked on after just coming on and it looked like Exeter's chance was gone but they were given one last roll of the dice when Wasps failed to make touch with their clearance kick from the scrum.
With second remaining, Hughes, who had done everything right for 79 minutes then conceded a penalty that Steenson nailed to make it all square and take it into extra time.
Exeter had the chance to take the lead in extra time but turned down a chance at the posts and went for the corner. However Wasps disrupted their lineout and Hughes won a penalty at the breakdown with Wasps really under the cosh.
Wasps also had a chance when a Danny Cipriani kick set them up for a driving maul of their own, however Exeter repelled them and the first period of extra time fizzled out as the exertion of the last 90 minutes took it's toll on both sets of players.
With time ticking away and the prospect of the title being decided by penalties, Exeter threw everything at Wasps and looked to have scored when Sam Simmonds rumbled over. However Doyle could not see the grounding amidst the tired bodies and neither could the TMO much to the Chiefs fan's disgust.
Wasps had survived but not for long as Exeter exerted huge pressure at the 5m scrum and were awarded the penalty which Steenson nailed for the historical win.
