Stormers' fire extinguished in Exeter as SA's Champions Cup campaign ends with a whimper

English Premiership side Exeter Chiefs poured a cold bucket of water on the usual Stormers fire at Sandy Park to knock the last South African team out of the European Champions Cup on Saturday.

The 2020 Heineken Cup champions and two-time Premiership champions, who are notoriously difficult to beat at home, didn’t give the Stormers a sniff as they scored six tries to three to claim a 42-17 victory.

In many respects, the match was less a contest than the Sharks’ 54-20 defeat to Toulouse earlier in the day.

AS IT HAPPENED | Exeter Chiefs v Stormers

The Stormers will mourn the performance more than the result in England, something they won’t want to repeat as their focus zeroes in on nailing second place on the United Rugby Championship log, which will lengthen their home matches in the playoffs.

It’s become crystal clear that home ground advantage is the key ingredient to playing in Europe, especially if you have a dodgy airline partner, like the one SA Rugby has inflicted on its franchises.

Thirteen minutes in, Exeter found themselves up against a scrambling Stormers defence, while the men from the Western Cape were seemingly still looking for the nearest tube station to take them to the ground.

Wing Olly Woodburn found space down the left and used speed and special awareness to draw cover defenders in.

With the visitors sucked towards the left, the Chiefs went right and flyhalf Joe Simmonds chipped into open space for his fullback Tom Wyatt to catch and score untouched.

The Stormers’ weak point was clear quite early: without Deon Fourie, they could not pressurise the Exeter breakdown, whose supportive play and cleanout was shaper and faster.

They were also getting turned over regularly, with the Ben-Jason Dixon, Junior Pokomela