Feyi-Waboso stars as Exeter hold off Munster charge
· BBC SportPublished
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ECPR Challenge Cup
Exeter (31) 31
Tries: Vintcent, Slade, Rigg, Feyi-Waboso Cons: Slade 4 Pens: Slade
Munster (0) 21
Tries: Crowley 2, Beirne Cons: Crowley 3
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored a sensational solo try on his return from injury as Exeter Chiefs beat Munster to reach the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
Exeter took full advantage of a sloppy first half from the visitors, with Henry Slade and Will Rigg scoring from interceptions, after Ross Vintcent's opening score.
Feyi-Waboso then weaved his way through half the Munster defence to give Chiefs a 31-0 lead at the break.
Munster mounted periods of concerted pressure in the second half, and Jack Crowley's two tries briefly threatened a comeback, but Exeter's famed defence held firm.
The Chiefs will either host Cardiff or travel to Italy to face Benetton in the quarter-finals next weekend.
The result comes a couple of days after Exeter's director of rugby Rob Baxter signed a new "multi-year" contract at Sandy Park.
And his team were outstanding in the first 40 minutes as they carved open an admittedly flimsy Munster side.
Feyi-Waboso was making his first appearance in a Chiefs shirt since the end of January, having injured his hamstring in an England training camp before the Six Nations.
His linebreak helped Exeter apply the territorial pressure that led to Vintcent going over, with Slade superbly using the prevailing wind to kick a tricky conversion.
Slade then poached a loose pass from Munster's Alex Nankivell before racing through under the posts, and Rigg repeated the trick after visiting full-back Ben O'Connor virtually handed him the ball.
With Munster reeling, they were then left dazed by Feyi-Waboso's jinking run from the left flank, which took him in-field past diving tackles from Alex Kendellen and Crowley, and three less convincing attempts, before running in behind the posts.
Munster responded with the strong wind at their backs after the break and Crowley got the better of Stephen Varney in the corner to get them on the board.
They later laid siege to the Exeter try line for several minutes, and were repelled time and again by the disciplined Chiefs' defence, only for returning Munster captain Tadhg Beirne to finally break through to score.
His yellow card for a deliberate knock-on with eight minutes to play effectively ended the contest, although Crowley collected his own chip to score a creative consolation and reduce Exeter's margin of victory.
Exeter Chiefs: Woodburn; Brown-Bampoe, Slade, Rigg, Feyi-Waboso; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Yeandle, Roots; Jenkins, Zambonin; Hooper, Vintcent, Fisilau.
Replacements: Dweba, Burger, Tchumbadze, Tuima, Worley-Brady, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, Ridl.
Munster: O'Connor; Abrahams, Farrell, Nankivell, Kilgallen; Crowley, Casey; Loughman, Barron, Ryan; Edogbo, Beirne; O'Donoghue, Kendellen, Coombes.
Replacements: Scannell, Milne, Ala'alatoa, Ahern, Quinn, O'Donovan, O'Brien, Hodnett.
Referee: Jeremy Rozier (France)