Exeter won their first European Champions Cup title on Saturday in a closely-fought battle against Simon Zebo's Racing 92.
They beat out Racing in Bristol 31-27 in a tough final, which was guaranteed to result in a first time winner of the tournament.
Exeter started the game strong, scoring twice in the first 15 minutes. Luke Cowan-Dickie got the first points of the final from a powerful maul off the 5m line.
Sam Simmonds added to their lead a few minutes later with a pick-and-go try. Joe Simmonds converted both tries, placing Racing on the back foot with a 14-point deficit to make up.
Racing were error-strewn in the opening quarter of the game, however their first try seemed to ignite the fire back in the French side.
Like he did in their semi-final against Saracens last month, Finn Russell had a moment of magic, which was finished off by some brilliant stepping from Simon Zebo to get the French side back in contention.
Love the way Zebo takes about 50 mini sidesteps before contact.
Don't know where he's going.
Nightmare to defend.— Paul Williams (@thepaulwilliams) October 17, 2020
Russell threw a skip pass over two of his players and several to find Zebo out wide. Zebo beat the defender and ran in to open the scoring for Racing.
Russell would miss the conversion, however the visitors looked like a changed side from the opening 20 minutes.
SIMON ZEBO! 🇮🇪
What a pass from Finn Russell!
What a finish from Zebo!
Racing 92 have arrived! 🇫🇷#EXEvR92 | #HeinekenChampionsCup | #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/1kfth2BHpW— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) October 17, 2020
The deficit was further reduced on the stroke of half an hour, as a build up of phases and wide passes allowed Racing to gain field position inside the Exeter 22m.
Zebo looked ready to score his second, but was stopped five meters short. Juan Imhoff picked off the back of the subsequent ruck and ran in under to posts, allowing Russell to reduce the deficit to just two points.
In the final five minutes of the half, Exeter placed Racing under a huge amount of pressure. The French side did well to keep them out for as long as they did, however Harry Williams eventually struck on the stroke of halftime.
Simmonds got the extras and put Exeter ahead by nine points.
Almost immediately after kickoff in the second half, Racing pounced on a loose pass and managed to work their way into the Exeter 22m yet again.
With the ball in Zebo's hands, he had all the work to do to run in from 15 meters out. Zebo powered through two defenders and burst his way over the line for his second.
ZEBO AGAIN! 🇮🇪#EXEvR92 | #HeinekenChampionsCup | #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/jU7MK1C5P5
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) October 17, 2020
Racing hardly had time enough to celebrate, however, as a rare sloppy pass from Russell only found the hands of Jack Nowell who offloaded to Henry Slade for the try. Simmonds added the extras, regaining the half time lead.
The early stages of the second half went back and forth, as every score was followed by the opposing side crossing over.
With just ten minutes gone, Camille Chat reduced the deficit again for Racing, scoring off a powerful maul. Maxime Machenaud added the extras, and it was a four-point game yet again.
Zebo was prevented from securing his hat-trick after being subbed off with 15 minutes to go in the final.
Zebo off - WTF???! Surely him to the wing if Kurtley comes on.... 🤷🏻♂️
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) October 17, 2020
Racing were helped late in the game as Thomas Francis was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-down when Racing were hot on attack with nine minutes left on the clock.
The extra man was not enough without Zebo on the pitch, as Exeter were able to hold off the pressure and clear the ball out of their 22m.
There was late drama in the match, as a the TMO was called in to determine whether or not time was up on the clock when Simmonds' final penalty crossed the posts.
After some deliberation with Nigel Owens, it was determined that the time was indeed over, and Exeter had won 31-27.
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