'Better than sex': Slade hails Exeter's first win

Sporting ecstasy comes in various forms and Exeter's first league victory in 232 days was clearly a relief for all associated with the previously winless Chiefs. "Better than sex," was the instant verdict of Henry Slade on live television and the collective roar that greeted the final whistle suggested a few onlookers might have agreed with his breathless assessment.

- Robert Kitson

It mattered not that the Chiefs are still languishing in the lower reaches of the Premiership table or that Gloucester's director of rugby, George Skivington, described the first half as his team's worst of the season. Here was some respite from a string of painful defeats and a glimmer of hope that more uplifting times could lie ahead if the energy that delivered this outcome can be reproduced.

This precious result also elevates them above the bottom-placed Newcastle but did not come without its anxious moments. The visitors engineered a second-half comeback from 11 points down to lead 15-14 with 18 minutes left and might conceivably have held on had Santi Carreras not missed a potentially game-turning penalty in the 70th minute. Instead the replacement prop Josh Iosefa-Scott crashed over for the short-range score that sealed their first league win since May.

Rob Baxter did not go quite as far as Slade - "At my age I don't know" - but did confirm that the avoidance of a 10th successive league defeat dating back to last season had lifted a certain amount of pressure. "I'm delighted for the supporters," he said.