Dan Hipkiss keeps Leicester clear of dangerous Exeter

After that famous first scalp last Saturday it was time for the Chiefs to circle the wagons. A trip to Leicester where the champions were smarting from their defeat at Northampton was always going to be the acid test but this was so nearly another glorious day for Exeter. The promoted side were four points ahead with little over 10 minutes remaining when Dan Hipkiss scored a try. The centre has a habit of rescuing lost causes, his try at the death beating Saracens in May's Premiership final at Twickenham. But Leicester looked anything but champions here at the end of a week in which it emerged that their fly-half, Toby Flood, would be out for two months with a knee injury. A penalty try in the last move of the match gave them a bonus point but put a gloss on the score and was rough justice on Exeter, who will be patronised by no one this season. The small but vocal band of travelling supporters sensed something extraordinary was about to happen when Exeter found themselves 20-10 ahead at the break. The evening was following the script when Leicester's pack put pressure on the Exeter forwards and the visitors' lock James Hanks was sent to the sin-bin for straying offside at a maul. The seven-man scrum could not hold Leicester's who moved the ball swiftly to the right wing for Geordan Murphy to join the line and dive over for a try. Things started to unravel for the Tigers, though, when they lost their centre Anthony Allen, who collapsed in a heap after a tackle by Gareth Steenson and, after Luke Arscott had made an important tackle on Alesana Tuilagi, Exeter broke upfield for Bryan Rennie to slip a pass to Dollman for a converted try that put Exeter ahead. Leicester looked ragged with their lineout disintegrating and when Exeter won their own scrum, Haydn Thomas slipped a pass to Arscott whose diagonal run split the Leicester defence and Dollman was given another try-scoring pass to touch down beneath the posts. The ears of the Leicester players must have been burning during the interval and Tom Croft came on for his first appearance of the season to inject some pace into the champions' pack and shore up that creaking lineout. But it was the introduction of Martin Castrogiovanni that gave the Tigers a bigger lift as the prop helped shunt the Exeter pack backwards and Jeremy Staunton landed the resulting penalty. Staunton landed another penalty but Exeter stunned the home crowd. From a ruck Thomas and Dollman combined to send Foster into a gap and the wing whose early try had helped beat Gloucester scored in the corner. Steenson converted from the touchline. Leicester hit back, though, when a break down the right touchline by Allen's replacement, Billy Twelvetrees, gave Scott Hamilton the chance to plunge over in the corner and set up a rousing finish. All hail to the Chiefs. Ian Malin