Gloucester thrash Exeter in record-breaking win

Rugby league-bound Christian Wade scored his 90th Premiership try - moving him level with Mark Cueto in third place in the all-time standings

Gallagher Premiership

Gloucester (43) 79

Tries: Clement, Blake, Ludlow, Harris, S Atkinson 2, Anscombe, Williams, Ford-Robinson, Wade, Singleton 3 Cons: Carreras 6, Anscombe

Exeter (7) 17

Tries: Hodge, Rigg, Haydon-Wood Cons: Slade

Gloucester scored 13 tries in a club-record-breaking win over Exeter to move up to fifth in the Premiership.

The Cherry and Whites totally outclassed their opponents as they ran in seven first-half tries to lead 43-7 at the break, having earned a bonus point inside the 20 minutes.

Jamal Ford-Robinson and Christian Wade took the try tally to nine within 10 minutes of the restart as Exeter began to get embarrassed.

The hosts went on to score four more tries - replacement Jack Singleton got a hat-trick - as they registered their record Premiership victory, overtaking a 64-0 win over Bath three years ago.

The defeat was Exeter's heaviest in the top flight, surpassing a 55-12 loss to Sale 14 years ago.

It marks the second record-loss for Rob Baxter's side this season, after a 69-17 defeat by Bordeaux broke their record in European competition.

Exeter remain second from bottom of the table.

Seb Atkinson helped himself to a pair of tries at Kingsholm

Exeter, who had been buoyed by a narrow loss at league leaders Bath last week, were a shadow of that side as the hosts cut through them time and again.

Jack Clement was driven over from a sixth-minute five-metre lineout after Gareth Anscombe had set Santi Carreras free.

Exeter's maul defence cost them again eight minutes later as Gloucester's pack powered into the 22 to earn a penalty and forced Seb Blake over from the resulting close-range lineout.

Having seen their forwards master the first two tries, it was the fine passing of the backs that set up the next two. Lewis Ludlow beat Ben Hammersley to a grubber kick for the third after a fine passing move, before Harris went in after Tomos Williams, Christian Wade and Ruan Ackermann linked up to set up the Scotland centre.

Exeter's defence continued to struggle as Seb Atkinson strode through a massive gap 22 metres out to go in under the posts for the fifth try after 26 minutes, and it was just as tepid three minutes later when Anscombe got the sixth.

It took 32 minutes for Exeter to get into Gloucester's red zone as Paul Brown-Bampoe went close before Exeter lost the ball, although a minute later Josh Hodge at least got his side on the scoreboard when he raced in from 22 metres.

But once again Exeter's defence melted as Williams' lovely looping pass started a move that the Welsh scrum-half got on the end of for the seventh try shortly before half-time.

Exeter made five changes five minutes into the second period, but a minute later went further behind when Wade raced on to pick up his own chipped kick and was stopped just short of the Exeter line, only for Ford-Robinson to dot down from an inch or two out a few phases later.

Wade edged closer to the all-time Premiership try record when his chipped kick was gathered by Carreras, before the Argentine full-back gave it back for his 90th try in the league, and Atkinson got his second soon after when Carreras shook off a tackle from Brown-Bampoe to race in from distance to make it 60-7.

It continued to get embarrassing for the former European champions as Singleton broke off a lineout maul for the 11th try, 18 minutes into the second half, and the replacement hooker dotted down in the corner five minutes later when Gloucester broke the 70-point mark for the first time in a Premiership match.

When Exeter did think they had scored a try it was ruled out for a forward pass, as Hodge was denied shortly after Singleton's second score, with Exeter's Will Haydon-Wood sin-binned for a tackle off the ball moments later.

From the resulting penalty Gloucester kicked out the corner and Singleton was mauled in for his third try to take it to 79-7 with 11 minutes left, before Will Rigg and Haydon-Wood scored two late consolation tries for a shell-shocked Exeter side.

Gloucester head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucester:

"It's obviously a good day for us. The most pleasing thing for me is the balance of the tries was good.

"We've had a tough couple of weeks away from home and we didn't feel the balance of our game was quite right.

"But I thought today the boys used the maul well, they used the scrum well and when we attacked we looked really good and our defence as very good as well.

"Whilst we're a really good attacking team, we have to have the balance of the game to compete."

Exeter head coach Rob Hunter told BBC Radio Devon:

"In my many years as a coach that is my lowest point.

"You can't put any gloss at all on that. That's a heavy beating and at this stage it's a real kick in the teeth.

"In no way at all did we have any foothold in that game - nothing really held up and we gave up momentum so easily.

"You've got to not hide away from it, you've got to take responsibility that comes from putting the shirt on, and that will be our first point of call, and then we'll try and sit through the whys and hows.

"Right now it's important that we wear it and recognise that that is not an acceptable level of performance from anybody involved."

Gloucester: Carreras; Wade, Harris, S Atkinson, Morris; Anscombe, Williams; Rapava Ruskin, Blake, Fasogbon, Clark, Thomas, Clement, Ludlow (capt), Ackermann

Replacements: Singleton, Ford-Robinson, Gotovtsev, Jordan, Clarke, Englefield, C Atkinson, Cotgreave

Exeter: Hodge; Hammersley, Slade, Hawkins, Brown-Bampoe; Skinner, Armstrong; Sio, Yeandle, Street, Tuima, Jenkins (capt), E Roots, Vintcent, Fisilau

Replacements: Norey, Blose, Iosefa-Scott, Capstick, Vermeulen, Townsend, Haydon-Wood, Rigg

Yellow card: Haydon-Wood 68

Referee: Karl Dickson