Exeter into Champions Cup knockout stages after Wimbush thwarts Glasgow

Steve Borthwick may have his eye on a number of Exeter youngsters for his Six Nations squad but it was Henry Slade who proved the pick of the England hopefuls in a scrappy, controversial victory.

The Chiefs are through to knockout stages of the Champions Cup with a round to spare after Slade’s nerveless late conversion of Zack Wimbush’s try and the decision of the referee, Pierre Brousset, to disallow Euan Ferrie’s try for Glasgow.

It would have been hard to argue the Warriors did not deserve to win after a defiant performance but Brousset decided Ferrie had left his bind in the scrum early to tackle Ross Vintcent as he tried to kick the ball out to end the match before pouncing on the loose ball and ­dotting down.

Exeter had struggled for large spells and their bright young things, including the winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, had been kept quiet for the most part. With Kevin Sinfield watching, Slade stood out for his composure, however, and the centre who was omitted from England’s World Cup squad dragged his side back into proceedings just as Glasgow looked on course to see out the match.

With Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant unavailable for the Six Nations for varying reasons, surely Slade will feature in the squad unveiled by Borthwick on Wednesday.

“He’s just loving it again,” said Exeter’s director of rugby, Rob Baxter. “Those performances don’t come from nowhere. They come from someone who is really enjoying it, thriving under pressure, thriving in the position he finds himself in.

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“He’s training and playing like a young guy, bang on form. He’s going to be very hard to ignore in the England squads coming up, he’s doing everything asked of him.”

Exeter let a 26-0 lead slip against Northampton last time out and they began in a manner that suggested they had not shaken it from their system. In fairness to Glasgow, theirs was a razor-sharp start with Josh McKay denied the opening try by an unfortunate bounce of the ball.

Greg Fisilau was one of the youngsters name dropped by Borthwick last week but he endured a difficult opening spell here and was sent to the sin-bin for his part in a head-on-head collision with Glasgow’s Duncan Weir. With the fly-half off for a head injury assessment, the scrum-half, George Horne, kicked Glasgow ahead with a ­straightforward penalty.

Exeter were the architects of their own downfall for the opening try of the match. Horne’s chip over the top was well executed in that he spotted the space in front of Ben Hammersley, who was covering at full-back, and the Exeter man made a royal mess of dealing with it, kneeing the bouncing ball into the arms of Kyle Rowe, who ran through unopposed.

If their lineout was wobbling, it was through the scrum Exeter managed to find a way back into proceedings. A mighty shove near the Glasgow line panicked Weir into fumbling the ball and from the ensuing Exeter scrum, after a number of near misses, Jacques Vermeulen bludgeoned his way over from close range.

After a scrappy opening to the second half, Glasgow scored a peach of try through their captain, Sione Tuipulotu, after a charge up the field by Scott Cummings and a final killer pass from the impressive McKay but again Exeter were able to respond with their power at close quarters – Dan Frost the scorer this time.

Slade’s missed conversion left Exeter five behind and though they thought they were level when Wimbush went over in the left corner, Brousset ruled that there had been a knock-on in the buildup.

Wimbush did not have to wait long for his chance to shine, however, diving over with three minutes to go before Ferrie was denied at the ^­last after a scrum near the Exeter line.