Toulouse vs Exeter ends 43-40 as 14-man hosts survive Slade's late miss

Toulouse played with 14 men from early in the first half and still beat Exeter Chiefs 43-40 at the Stadium de Toulouse on Sunday 18 October. They held on only because Henry Slade pushed a penalty from about 40 metres wide in the final minute, a kick that would have levelled the scores.

The opening round of the Champions Cup produced a match in which the lead changed hands seven times. Toulouse got to the finish line even though the referee's biggest call went against them.

Davidson's call on Neti

At 19 minutes Toulouse prop Rodrigue Neti hit Exeter's Ross Vintcent in the head with his shoulder. Scottish referee Hollie Davidson did not refer the incident to the bunker. She gave Neti a permanent red card, not the 20-minute version, and Toulouse had to play the rest of the game a man short.

Davidson explained the decision: "It's fist down and shoulder tucked. Therefore, we apply no mitigation to our process."

Ian Madigan backed her: "That's the type of tackle we want to get out of rugby. It's really dangerous."

Things got worse for Toulouse when wing Teddy Thomas was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on, which cut them to 13 men for a spell. The first half was wild, and Exeter Chiefs went into the break 26-24 up.

Wimbush hat-trick not enough

Zack Wimbush started on the wing for Exeter in place of the injured England international Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and scored a hat-trick of tries.

Vintcent charged down a clearing kick from Antoine Dupont and Will Butt scored, putting Exeter nine points ahead.

Toulouse fought back. Matias Remue scored two tries for the hosts, and they took the lead for the last time while Exeter's Ben Hammersley was in the sin-bin. Slade then had the chance to tie the game with the clock dead, but his kick went wide.

Exeter, the 2020 champions, left France with a losing bonus point. All the opening-round scores are on our rugby results page.