Exeter Chiefs stunned by Perpignan in ongoing Amlin Challenge Cup - Rugby News
Perpignan beat the Exeter Chiefs by a slight margin of 15-12 in the ongoing Amlin Challenge Cup on November 11 at Stade Aime Giral, Perpignan. The visiting Chiefs cut a sorry figure in the second half and ultimately received a surprise defeat. They were
leading in the game by 12-9 at the end of the first half but failed to extend their total in the second half. Local boy James Hook displayed a one man show before his home crowd and scored all 15 points for his team on penalty goals.
According to the details the match between Perpignan and Chiefs was played at a fast and furious pace as both sides were motivated to take an initial lead as soon as possible. The Exeter Chiefs, however, remained successful in stealing a march upon the hosts.
Gareth Steenson hailed his side with couple of penalty goals within first 10 minutes of the game and sealed the lead of 6-0.
He scored the third unanswered goal in the same manner in the 17th minute and put the rivals on back foot. The trailing Perpignan finally got a breakthrough with the help of James Hook, who later on proved a redeemer for his team. Hook kicked
first three pointer for his side n the 18th minute of the match and kept on ticking the score with short intervals.
The Perpignan team was three points short at the end of first part despite some good work by their fly-half. However, they seemed a much improved side in the second half especially at defence and blocked all the attacks of Chiefs successfully. They took
the decisive lead of 15-12 in the 49th minute and the last half an hour remained unproductive for both teams. James Hook and Gareth Steenson were the only scorers for their teams. Steenson elevated Exeter Chiefs with 12 individual points.
Perpignan: 15 Joffrey Michel, 14 Adrien Plante, 13 David Marty, 12 Gavin Hume, 11 Julien Candelon, 10 James Hook, 9 Florian Cazenave, 8 Henry Tuilagi, 7 Bertrand Guiry, 6 Grégory Le Corvec, 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Yoann Vivalda, 3 Nicolas
Mas, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 1 Jérôme Schuster.
Replacements: 16 Charles Geli, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Danie Thiart, 19 Olivier Olibeau, 21 Ovidiu Tonita, 22 Kevin Boulogne, 23 Nicolas Laharrague.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Joseph Tatupu, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Patrick Phibbs, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Ben White, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes,
3 Hoani Tui, 2 Neil Clark, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Tom Johnson, 20 James Phillips, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Phil Dollman.
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