A young Sharks side endured a difficult afternoon on the south coast as Exeter Chiefs scored nine tries to boost their chances of making the last four of the Prem Rugby Cup.
Alex Sanderson made 14 changes to his side following the defeat to Northampton in the Gallagher Prem, with only former Chief Jacques Vermeulen keeping his place.
But a more experienced Chiefs side overpowered the visitors, with seven of the nine tries scored by forwards. Prem regular full-back Josh Hodge slotted seven of his nine conversion attempts.
Chiefs centre Will Rigg opened the scoring early, but Sharks hit back with two of their own to surge into a 7-14 lead. First, Gurswin Wehr dived over in the corner for his first Sharks try and that was followed by a five pointer from Joe Bedlow. Both were converted by Tom Curtis.
That was as good as it got for the visitors, as Chiefs pack came to the fore with a two close-range tries, first for Julian Heaven and then for loosehead prop Will Goodrick-Clarke, who barged his way over to put his side into the lead.
Exeter skipper Lewis Pearson secured his side’s bonus point try before the break when he powered his way over from a lineout. Hodge’s conversion attempt went just wide but the home side went in to the sheds at half-time with a commanding 26-14 lead.
The half-time break provided only a temporary respite for the Sharks team as Chiefs went on the offensive from the start of the second period.
Newcastle-bound lock Rusi Tuima added their fifth before Iosefa-Scott marked his first match of the year with Chiefs’ sixth try of the afternoon. Both were converted by Hodge.
Back-row replacement Martin Moloney became the sixth try-scoring forward of the day for the Chiefs just after the hour mark and five minutes later Tuima scored his second from a Dan John offload.
Hodge’s conversion topped the Chiefs’ score up to 54 points but the scoring wasn’t finished there. Following a red card to Sharks full-back Ollie Davies for a dangerous tackle in the air, Ben Coen linked up with his England U20s teammate Campbell Ridl for the ninth and final try.
