Jackson dazzles to leave Chiefs at sea

By DAN GALLAN

London Irish ….18pts

Tries: Cornish 21, Stokes 40

Conversion: Jackson 40+3

Penalties: Jackson 28, 30

Exeter …………….14pts

Tries: Woodburn 4, Schickerling 17

Conversions: Simmonds 5, 17

FOR the first 20 minutes of the contest it looked as if a rout was on the cards.

It wasn't just that Olly Woodburn and Patrick Schickerling had scored close-range tries for the Exeter Chiefs, or that Joe Simmonds' conversions saw his side race to a 14-0. It was the tempo that suggests only one team had any hope of winning, such was the dominance exerted by the visitors on London Irish's home patch.

It is remarkable then that the Exiles' 18-14 win was not only deserved, but felt inevitable by the hour mark. During the first 20 minutes, wave after wave of white shirts crashed over the advantage line, shrugged off tackles and swallowed up those in green when defending.

Stuart Hogg and Simmonds won the kicking battle hands down. But rugby games do not end after 20 minutes and London Irish deserved the four points that sees them move ahead of Exeter into sixth place on the Premiership table.

The turnaround coincided with Paddy Jackson seeing more of the ball. The Irish fly-half is dazzling when in this form and he alone seemed unperturbed by the scoreline. He routinely played a wraparound loop move that saw would-be tacklers clutching at players who had already passed the ball on which left space for runners. Curtis Rona and Lucio Cinti were particularly productive down the inside channel.

Front foot ball was secured by the forwards and Tom Pearson was immense, seemingly hitting every ruck like a zealot devoted to stealing possession off the opposition. The two Wallaby locks – Adam Coleman and Rob Simmons – with 139 Test caps between them, also came to the fore, securing lineout ball and dominating around the fringe.

Which is why Matt Cornish's bulldozing try from a few metres out on 21 minutes did not feel like a bolt from the blue. Jackson missed the conversion but made no mistake with two penalties shortly after.

The lead was secured through the highlight of the match.

Jackson broke the line and the ball was worked to Ben Loader who offered a sumptuous off-load under pressure. James Stokes collected but still had a lot of work to do near the right touchline. His step and dive into the corner needed a lengthy review but the try was awarded. Jackson nudged the extras that would be the final score of the match.

The second half was a dogfight with both teams failing to extract any fluency from their backlines. But the longer it dragged on the more the home crowd roared, compounding the mounting frustration of the visiting players and coaching staff. Though Jackson missed three penalties in the half, and Irish turned down a very kickable opportunity in favour of a scrum five metres from Exeter's try line, they maintained control.

Regular turnovers kept the ball away from Exeter who now languish midtable.

Not that London Irish will worry about that. They have their fate in their own hands. More wins, however scrappy, and they're in with a chance of reaching their first play-offs since 2009.