Prem
Exeter Chiefs U14 24
Tries: Fisilau, Riedl, Varney Cons: Slade 3 Handles: Slade
Leicester Tigers (7) 10
Tries: Henderson Cons: Searle Handles: Searle
Exeter returned to second place in the Premier League after beating Leicester 24-10 at a sold-out Sandy Park Stadium.
Greg Fisilau gave Exeter an early lead before 20-year-old forward Campbell Riedl spectacularly scored his first Prem try to help make it 14-0 in the 25th minute.
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Harvey Skinner failed to score Exeter's third try and moments later Cameron Henderson stepped up to put the Tigers on the scoreboard.
Henry Slade's penalty extended the lead 10 minutes after the break before Stephen Varney's 72nd-minute try made the game safe with the Tigers losing a man after a yellow card.
Billy Searle converted a late penalty for the Tigers before Ridle and Will Goodrick-Clarke lost the ball over the line in stoppage time as Exeter missed out on a try bonus point that would have seen them top the table.
The defeat keeps Leicester in fifth place in the Premier League after eight rounds of matches, while Exeter are one point behind Northampton and one ahead of third-placed Bath.
Stephen Varney scores his second try in as many appearances for Exeter [Getty Images]
The Tigers suffered an early scare after Andrea Zambonin's seventh-minute free-kick put pressure on their line, but they were unable to stop Fisilau's powerful run three minutes later when he burst over the Tigers' line from 15 metres.
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The lead had almost doubled 11 minutes later but the Tigers held off Bachuki Chumbadze as he tried to go wide after Exeter's dynamic attack had brought them to the line.
And soon after, England Under-20s forward Riedl, who has burst onto the scene in recent weeks, showed all that dynamism and more as he flicked the ball over his marker before composing himself again, skipping past Ollie Hassell-Collins and diving under the post to score a memorable first-ever Prem Rugby try.
It could have been 21-0 when Skinner overplayed and scored, but replays showed an unnecessary push from Will Rigg on Isiah Perese in the set-up that could have denied the Tigers center a chance to get to Skinner.
Leicester responded three minutes later when Henderson galloped over after Jamie Blamire found Ollie Cracknell before the Tigers number eight locked him in to keep the visitors in it at the break.
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Having withstood early Leicester pressure, Slade converted a penalty in the 50th minute to extend the deficit to 10 points, before the England center was intercepted by Sam Williams, sending the Tigers replacement into the sin bin.
As soon as Williams returned to the field, Leicester were reduced to 14 men again – this time Searle was ruled to have entered the game from outside as he tried to stop Skinner as the Exeter midfielder burst towards the line.
Referee Anthony Woodthorpe judged that Skinner had been brought down by one of Searle's teammates before he could score and so did not award a penalty.
The Tigers thought they had survived the second period of the game with 14 men again, but just as Searle was about to return, Fisilau broke through and fed Varney, while the Italy midfielder scored his second try in as many games.
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Leicester scored their first points of the half four minutes from time when Searle converted a penalty after substitute Rusi Tuima was booked for head-on contact with Finn Theobald-Thomas.
Most of Sandy Park thought their side were top of the table as the clock passed the 80-minute mark, but Riedl initially lost control, going into the right corner, and after a pair of penalties, Goodrick-Clarke dived from close range only to have the ball cleared.
Victory after last week's win Saracens winonce again saw Exeter title-winning as they continue to recover from last season's dismal finish when they finished the campaign second from bottom.
Exeter in “positive position across the board”
Exeter forward coach Dave Walder told BBC Sport:
“If you had offered us victory this morning, we would have accepted it.
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“Deep down we're a little disappointed with our accuracy, but at the same time it's probably a sign of where we've come from and where we're at at the moment.
“Last week we were disappointed that we couldn't snatch an extra point from Saracens with a strike late in the game and this week we're a little disappointed that we couldn't secure the extra bonus point with more precision at key moments.
“We're not really too focused on where we are in the league, it's about the process at the moment and all the boys are in a good place and working hard.”
“Across the board we are in a positive position, we need to make sure we don't lose sight of what got us here and maintain hard work and intention in everything we do.”
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Leicester manager Geoff Parling told BBC Sport:
“I obviously did something wrong during the week because I thought we looked a little different, both in the warm-up and in the first 30 minutes.
“They are a very good team, they play at home and play well, with a lot of confidence, but it just showed that if you come away from home against a team like Exeter and you get a 5% discount on how you prepare, a 5% discount on what you do on the day and you can suffer.”
“I have a good team and good players who work hard for each other. While we learn from today, if we fall a little behind in what we're doing – and I look back at the training week and what we did there – then you're going to suffer.”
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Exeter: Woodburn; Fahey-Waboso, Slade, Rigg, Riedl; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Dveba, Chumbadze, Jenkins (c), Zambonin, Hooper, E. Roots, Fisilau.
Substitutions: Yeandle, Goodrick-Clarke, J. Roots, Tuima, James, Chapman, Haydon-Wood, John.
Basket of sins: Numbness (76)
Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Perese, Kata, Hassell-Collins; Searle, Whiteley; N. Smith, Blamire, Hayes, Henderson, Chessum (c), Moreau, Reffell, Cracknell.
Substitutions: Theobald-Thomas, Haffar, Hurd, Thompson, Williams, Van Portvliet, Bailey, Hamer-Webb.
Basket of sins: Williams (51), Searle (62)
Judge: Anthony Woodthorpe.
