Latest news with #JoshHodge
BBC News
31-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Sale hang on to beat Exeter and reach play-offs
Gallagher PremiershipExeter (5) 26Tries: Brown-Bampoe, Hodge, Haydon-Wood, Capstick Cons: Hodge 3 Sale (20) 30Tries: Maasi-White, Rodd, Cowan-Dickie Cons: Ford 3 Pens: Ford 3 Sale secured third place in the Premiership and a play-off semi-final at Leicester with a 30-26 victory over Exeter in a tense encounter at Sandy Brown Bampoe's 20th-minute try briefly put the home side in front before Sale's superb attack kicked into gear as Rekeiti Maasi-White and Bevan Rodd went under the posts to give Sharks a 20-5 lead at the break. Josh Hodge pulled a try back for the hosts soon after the restart and, when Will Haydon-Wood cut the gap to four points Sale looked worried. Dan Frost had a fourth Exeter try disallowed for a knock on with 18 minutes left, but former Chiefs favourite Luke Cowan Dickie forced his way over with 12 minutes left to seal victory for Sale. Richard Capstick got a fourth try for Exeter with three minutes left to set up a tense finish as the hosts ended the season with two losing bonus win ensured Sale finish third in the table after second-placed Leicester beat bottom side Newcastle at home - ensuring a trip to Welford Road for the Sharks in next week's semi-finals. Exeter: Hodge; Brown-Bampoe, Slade, Tua, Wyatt; Skinner, Townsend; Blose, Yeandle (capt), Iosefa-Scott, Tuima, Molina, Vermeulen, Capstick, RootsReplacements: Frost, Sio, Roots, Tshiunza, Moloney, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, VintcentYellow card: Roots (39)Sale: Carpenter; O'Flaherty, R du Preez, Ma'asi-White Reed; Ford, Quirke; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, van Rhyn, Hill, J-L du Preez, B Curry (capt), D du McElroy, McIntyre, John, Bamber, Dugdale, Warr, James, card: Ma'asi-White (47), Warr (74)Referee: Christophe Ridley
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Exeter have gone 'back to basics'
Exeter full-back Josh Hodge says Rob Baxter has gone "back to basics" after taking control of the playing director of rugby Baxter has stepped in as acting boss after head coach Rob Hunter left the club and backs coach Ali Hepher was coaching changes came after Exeter's club-record 79-17 loss at Gloucester as the Chiefs continue to endure their worst Premiership season since promotion in 2010."As you could see in that Gloucester game, we probably weren't there with our basics - catching and pass handling errors were quite high," Hodge told BBC Radio Devon."So we've stripped it back to basics with Rob, putting in the hard work early on, to then bide ourselves time in attack and get some front-foot ball."The boys are working a lot harder now and it's looking good."Hodge, who scored one of Exeter's three tries in the loss at Kingsholm, and his team-mates have had a fortnight to build up for Sunday's visit of face the reigning Premiership champions a week after Saints recorded a historic European Champions Cup semi-final win over Leinster in is hopeful there will be no repeat of their loss at Gloucester in their first run-out in front of home fans since their Kingsholm humbling."I think we're just at a point in the season where we need to come together as a playing group," Hodge added."You see the teams that are doing well in the Premiership and they're a tightly connected playing group."The players should be joined together working towards the same goal, and I think we were probably just off on that day and just got outplayed."
