BRENDAN GALLAGHER VERDICT
It was Leo Tolstoy – who doesn’t offer appear on the sports pages – who once remarked that the two most powerful warriors are patience and time. Exeter Chiefs have been playing rugby for 146 years but yesterday they finally – memorably – landed the big one. For them patience has been the virtue that defines them best.
Between 2005 and 2010 they contested four Championship play-offs before they banged down the Premiership door with a 29-10 win at Bristol when a certain Gareth Steenson kicked 24 points.
There have been times in the las...