Exeter Chiefs get off the mark with 10-try demolition of Cornish Pirates

The problem that is the Premiership Rugby Cup reared its ugly head again as an incredibly strong Exeter Chiefs side obliterated their second-tier opponents Cornish Pirates 68-7 at the Mennaye Field on Friday night.

That will be of no concern to Exeter’s under-fire director of rugby Rob Baxter as his side helped steady the ship in a week that saw defence coach Omar Mouneimne part company with the club with immediate effect on the back of six back-to-back Premiership defeats.

READ MORE: Cornish Pirates 7-68 Exeter Chiefs LIVE: Reaction from the Premiership Rugby Cup

Chiefs emphatically ended their wait for a first competitive win of the season, running in 10 tries at the home of their Championship opponents, with scores from Will Rigg (2). Paul Brown-Bampoe (3), Josh Hodge (2), Dan Frost, Harvey Skinner and Jack Innard, with the full-back adding 18 points with the boot with nine from 10 conversion attempts.

Pirates were unable to fire too many shots across the bow of the Exeter’s defence with fly-half Bruce Houston finding a gap in the first half. He added the conversion to his score, but it was essentially one way traffic down in Cornwall as the Premiership side punished mistakes with points to pick up their first competitive win of the season.

More to follow…

Cornish Pirates: 15. Iwan Price-Thomas, 14. Matt McNab, 13. Tom Georgiou, 12. Joe Elderkin, 11. Arthur Relton, 10. Bruce Houston, 9. Dan Hiscocks; 1. Billy Keast, 2. Harry Hocking, 3. Jay Tyack, 4. Charlie Rice, 5. Eoin O’Connor, 6. Josh King, 7. Will Gibson, 8. Hugh Bokenham (c).

Replacements: 16. Sol Moody, 17. Billy Young, 18. Ollie Andrews, 19. Matt Cannon, 20. Tomi Agbongbon, 21. Cam Jones, 22. Iwan Jenkins, 23. Will Trewin.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Will Becconsall; 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 2 Dan Frost, 3 Ehren Painter, 4 Rusi Tuima, 5 Lewis Pearson, 6 Ethan Roots, 7 Jacques Vermeulen (c), 8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Joe Bailey, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Joe Hawkins

Referee: Sara Cox

Assistant Referees : Iain Kiy and Kevin Williams