Exeter’s Rugby League Men’s 1s produced an outstanding team performance in a 52-0 drubbing of Swansea. Nine tries were scored by the hosts, with Aled Jones and James Lee both crossing for hat-tricks.
The side took to Duckes Meadow for the first time this year with the promise of a straightforward start to the season, taking on the newly promoted Welsh side.
It didn’t take long for scrum-half Aled Jones to get his name on the scoresheet; a well-executed move after the third tackle saw him ground the ball within five minutes. With only 20 minutes on the clock, Exeter were 16-0 up, thanks to another try from Jones and one from James Lee.
Big hits were coming in from all directions as the Green Army looked to turn the screw. At one point, James Lee had the ball within his clutches in a dive for the line before being tackled into touch. However, this didn’t turn out to be costly, as Jones cleverly snagged a loose Swansea pass to cruise over for an interception try and an early hat-trick.
Ali Power took his own opportunity to score by sliding through a gap in the defensive line, and James Lee soon rolled through a couple of tackles to grab his second. With the game already over, Stefan Kadach also intercepted a pass to add his name to the scoresheet just before half-time. A wonderfully efficient kicking display from Dave Mulroy saw seven of his nine first-half kicks bisect the posts to leave the half-time score at 40-0.
In the second half, a couple of promising attacks from the Welsh team ended in knock-ons, leading to some bad tempered tackles. One particularly wild tip-tackle was punished by the referee with an obvious penalty.
Despite this, Swansea defended far more efficiently than in the first half – it took a quarter of an hour for Exeter to reach the try-line again. That particular try marked James Lee’s hat-trick.
Although a ninth try was ruled out by the referee for an infringement, the Green Army did eventually touch down again, Hugo Green taking the plaudits after Jordan Curtis ran half the length of the pitch.
It was an inspired result for Exeter, who top the early BUCS standings, and will no doubt take this momentum into next week’s home clash with St Mary’s.