European Rugby Champions Cup: Gloucester 17-29 Exeter Chiefs

Exeter wing Santiago Cordero has made 33 appearances for Argentina

Exeter still face an uphill battle to reach the Champions Cup knockout stages despite victory at Gloucester.

Chiefs' bonus-point win - thanks to tries from Sam Skinner, Don Armand, Jack Yeandle and Harry Williams - leaves them second in Pool Two.

Jason Woodward scored two tries for Gloucester and Tom Hudson crossed late on.

Gloucester are third in the pool, level on points with Exeter, and could also still reach the quarter-finals.

• European Champions Cup standings

In search of the bonus point

Initially it looked as if neither side would secure a bonus point, but a late flurry of tries saw Exeter claim the all-important score.

Both sides' hunger for the four-try bonus, crucial to their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals, shone through as they repeatedly kicked to the corner from penalties.

Eventually the tactic paid off for Exeter, with Scotland lock Skinner going over in a driving maul after a line-out.

Danny Cipriani, who last played for England in June, left the field holding his shoulder after a tackle on Don Armand

After winning the reverse fixture 27-19 last week, Gloucester suffered a blow in the backs when fly-half Danny Cipriani left the field injured in the first half, as England head coach Eddie Jones looked on from the stands.

The hosts' backline still conjured up two impressive team tries, first sending Woodward over in the left corner, before helping Hudson cross.

Two tries in the last 10 minutes for Yeandle and Williams gave Exeter all five points but Munster, who face bottom side Castres on Saturday, are three points clear at the top of the pool with three games left to play.

What they said

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter said:

"It just shows you what a funny old thing all sport is. The pressure flips week-by-week.

"It was the polar opposite of last week's game today. More than anything else, we worked hard, we stuck to our plan and we didn't get hurt by mistakes."

Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann said:

"Last week we smiled, today we don't - that's the beauty of this game.

"It brings you back to earth quickly. We were under pressure the whole first half. It shows you that the set-piece was quite crucial and the penalty count reversed today as well.

"It's a big learning curve for us. Quality teams back up their performances and we didn't today."

Teams

Gloucester: Woodward; Sharples, Twelvetrees, Williams, Thorley; Cipriani, Heinz; Hohneck, Visagie, Balmain, Slater, Mostert, Clarke, Evans, Morgan.

Replacements: Hudson for Cipriani (38), Craig for Evans (66), Braley for Heinz (70), Seville for Sharples (72), Knight for Balmain (75), Walker for Visagie (75), Grobler for Mostert (75)

Not used: Banahan

Sin-bin: Twelvetrees (43), Hohneck (71)

Exeter: Simmonds; Cordero, Whitten, Hill, O'Flaherty; Steenson, Maunder; Hepburn, Yeandle, Francis, Dennis, Skinner, Lonsdale, Armand, Lawday.

Replacements: Moon for Hepburn (48), Williams for Francis (48), Lees for Dennis (59), Devoto for Cordero (59), Van der Sluys for Skinner (78)

Not used: Taione, Maunder, Dollman.

Ref: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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