Slade holds nerve to kick Exeter into semi-finals

Müsabaka gündeminden önemli bir haber: Slade holds nerve to kick Exeter into semi-finals Image source, Shutterstock Image caption, Henry Slade has scored 66 points for Exeter in the Challenge Cup this season Published 12 April 2026, 14:37 BST Updated 3 minutes ago European Challenge Cup quarter-final Benetton (24) 41 Tries: N Cannone, Umaga 2, Ratave, Bernasconi Cons: Umaga 5 Pens: Umaga 2 Exeter (24) 44 Tries: Woodburn, penalty try, Feyi-Waboso, Skinner, Zambonin Cons: Slade 4 Pens: Slade 3 Nerveless Henry Slade kicked a 79th-minute penalty against Benetton to secure Exeter a European Challenge Cup semi-final place. The England centre slotted the winning kick - his seventh out of seven - to edge out the Italians in a breathless encounter at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo. Despite Benetton dominating possession, Exeter's precise finishing kept them in a contest of 10 tries - and Slade's boot did the rest.

The Chiefs will travel to Ulster for the semi-final on the weekend of 2 May. Fast-starting Benetton, who lost captain Michele Lamaro on the morning of the game after his partner went into labour, took a fifth-minute lead through a try from Italy international second row Niccolo Cannone. However, the tone of a see-saw match was set when Exeter hit straight back through veteran full-back Olly Woodburn, who took Slade's pass, to score three minutes later.

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Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Manny Feyi-Waboso has scored seven tries in his 13 England appearances When the home side pulled an advancing lineout drive down in the 16th minute, Exeter were awarded a penalty try and wing Onisi Ratave was sent to the sin-bin. But even though they were a man down, Benetton pulled the score level with the first of two tries from Jacob Umaga, after a thunderous run from Tomasso Menoncello. Manny Feyi-Waboso showed his finishing prowess to restore the lead for the Chiefs, and Slade added a penalty to stretch the advantage.

But Ratave used his power to cross for his 13th try in 13 Challenge Cup games, and Umaga landed a long-range penalty with the last kick of the half to tie the score up at 24-24. The blizzard of tries continued at the start of the second half, with Harvey Skinner and Andrea Zambonin crossing for the Chiefs and hooker Bautista Bernasconi going over in between for the Treviso side. Umaga brought Benetton to within four points with his second penalty just after the hour mark.

And when the Halifax-born stand-off struck again with 14 minutes left, the Chiefs trailed. But Rob Baxter's side pulled level again with a long-range penalty from Slade and, after calmly keeping control of the ball as the clock kicked down, they eked out a penalty for offside, which Slade stroked home with his trusty left boot from 25 metres out.

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