- Exeter 7-20 Bristol
- Bears top table as Exeter suffer second league loss in a row
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but few onlookers would have found this top-of-the-table clash more absorbing than Bath v Wasps the previous evening. All, that is, except Eddie Jones, who may well have regarded this as a telling yardstick of the new year form of a few of his potential national squad candidates.
Jones, it seems, was not among those who relished the free-wheeling 11-try bonanza at the Rec on Friday – “terrible” was the England head coach’s disapproving verdict – and this altogether grittier contest was indeed closer in spirit to the trench warfare of the Autumn Nations Cup. On a cold, raw afternoon, it was certainly one to separate the fair-weather types from the tough nuts.
Written by Robert Kitson at Sandy Park
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jan/09/exeter-bristol-premiership-rugby-union-match-report under the title “Semi Radradra has the final say as resilient Bristol outclass Exeter”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
