Slade's late penalty sends Exeter into Challenge Cup semi-finals

Henry Slade kept his nerve when Exeter Chiefs needed it most, striking a 79th-minute penalty that settled a 44-41 European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Benetton in Treviso.

The match at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo had been level 24-24 at half-time and stayed tight through a frantic second half, with 10 tries in all and Benetton asking relentless questions of the Premiership side. Slade answered every time. He was flawless from the tee, landing seven from seven kicks, including three penalties at 28, 70 and 79 minutes, and that final strike proved the difference in a contest that swung on composure more than spectacle.

Exeter’s scores came through Tom Woodburn, a penalty try, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Harvey Skinner and Andrea Zambonin, while Benetton kept pace through Niccolò Cannone, two tries from Umaga, and scores from Ratave and Bernasconi, with the Italians adding enough extras to keep the pressure high until the closing minutes. Benetton controlled large spells of possession, but Exeter’s accuracy in the key moments carried them through.

The result sends Exeter into the European Challenge Cup semi-finals, where they are set to face Ulster in Belfast on the weekend of 2 May. For Exeter, it was the kind of away win that can define a season: not a comfortable statement, but a hard-edged demonstration that a side can survive a hostile, high-scoring knockout tie by staying calm when the margin narrows to one kick.

It also underlined the competitiveness of English teams in Europe, even on a night when an Italian opponent made the quarter-final feel like a final. Exeter did not dominate possession or territory, but they were sharper when the match demanded precision, and Slade’s late penalty turned that edge into a place in the last four.