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By Rugby Onslaught

Barely human 135kg mega-man smashes Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs are a side that are used to bullying their opponents up front and dishing out punishment, so it is quite rare that they are on the receiving end of such treatment.

But the Chiefs faced a bruising Montpellier pack on Sunday at the GGL Stadium in the Heineken Champions Cup, spearheaded by France lock Paul Willemse in a 37-26 win for his side. The 135kg beast in the second row was at his physical best against the 2020 European champions, and laid down quite a marker ahead of the Six Nations.

The 29-year-old was destructive in defence and added a try for good measure to cap off a brilliant performance. His combination with Bastien Chalureau in the second row brings a serious amount of mass to their pack. Yoe91 Rugby has shared a montage of Willemse's performance on YouTube, take a look:

The win ensured Montpellier's qualification to the round of 16, despite their 89-7 loss to Leinster the week before. They will now face Gallagher Premiership champions Harlequins in April. Meanwhile, Exeter had already qualified going into the match, but obviously a loss meant that they had a lower seeding.  They will face Munster in the next round, who were unbeaten in the group stages.

Montpellier

15 Anthony Bouthier

14 Gabriel N'gandebe

13 Yvan Reilhac

12 Jan Serfontein

11 Vincent Rattez

10 Louis Foursans-Bourdette

9 Gela Aprasidze

1 Enzo Forletta

2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa

3 Mohamed Haouas

4 Bastien Chalureau

5 Paul Willemse

6 Nicolaas Janse Van Rensburg

7 Yacouba Camara

8 Zach Mercer

Replacements

16 Guihem Guirado

17 Robert Rodgers

18 Henry Thomas

19 Alexandre Becognee

20 Cobus Reinach

21 Paolo Garbisi

22 Thomas Darmon

23 Florian Verhaeghe

Exeter Chiefs

15 Stuart Hogg

14 Jack Nowell

13 Henry Slade

12 Sean O'Brien

11 Tom O'Flaherty

10 Joe Simmonds

9 Jack Maunder

1 Ben Moon

2 Luke Cowan-Dickie

3 Sam Nixon

4 Sean Lonsdale

5 Sam Skinner

6 David Ewers

7 Jannes Kirsten

8 Sam Simmonds

Replacements

16 Jack Innard

17 James Kenny

18 Patrick Schickerling

19 Christ Tshiunza

20 Don Armand

21 Sam Maunder

22 Harvey Skinner

23 Olly Woodburn