Exeter became the first away side to win in the league at Welford Road in 14 months as two tries from veteran full-back Olly Woodburn delivered a terrific win for the Chiefs. The victory was an illustration of how they have travelled this season, with director of rugby Rob Baxter engineering a turnaround from last season's ninth-place finish to within touching distance of a semi-final.
Woodburn said: “I love scoring tries, I love assisting tries and I have a lot of love for this team. We had that belief going into this game that we could come here and cause an upset so we’re excited to see what our form is like at home.”
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso carved Leicester apart to set up the first try, fielding a clearance kick in his own half before surging through the Tigers’ defence to put Woodburn in for the score in the seventh minute. Leicester hit back six minutes later with a try from academy full-back George Pearson, who picked up Orlando Bailey’s left-footed chip to score on his first Premiership start.
Exeter regained the lead three minutes into the second half with a try started and finished by their Wallabies, Tom Hooper and Len Ikitau. Ikitau’s ball inside gave Woodburn his second try in the 54th minute as Exeter stretched into a 25-14 lead. However, Woodburn was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, and Leicester fought back to take a one-point lead with 10 minutes left through Charlie Clare.
Exeter dug deep and hit back with six minutes left through second-row Andrea Zambonin, who handed off Bailey to go in at the corner. Slade converted from the touchline and added an injury-time penalty to take his individual contribution to 15 points and deprive the Tigers of a losing bonus point.
Leicester, already cemented into the playoffs, can still earn a home semi-final with a win at Bath next Saturday, but this defeat felt like a momentum stopper. Head coach Geoff Parling said: “Our set piece wasn’t good enough and we didn’t take our chances.”
