Exeter book final spot against Harlequins with thrilling play-off win over Sale
Champions Exeter reached their sixth successive Gallagher Premiership final and will play Harlequins at Twickenham after beating Sale 40-30 in an absorbing play-off.
The Chiefs struck with early tries by hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and wing Tom O’Flaherty after Sale’s England centre Manu Tuilagi was sin-binned for a swinging arm hit into Exeter flanker Richard Capstick’s jaw.
Capstick went off for a head injury assessment and did not return, but Chiefs maintained the upper hand and booked another final appearance through full-back Jack Nowell’s two touchdowns on his comeback after six weeks out injured and an Alex Cuthbert score, plus three conversions and three penalties from skipper Joe Simmonds.
Sale, striving to reach a first Twickenham showpiece since 2006, had their moments at Sandy Park, notably centre Rohan Janse Van Rensburg’s try double, while fly-half Robert Du Preez kicked 13 points, before number eight Dan Du Preez scored a late try that Kieran Wilkinson converted.
But Exeter march on, chasing a third Premiership title in five seasons, and they will start as favourites next Saturday despite Quins’ stunning extra-time victory over Bristol.
Suspended Exeter forwards Sam Skinner and Dave Ewers were replaced by Jonny Gray and Capstick, respectively, while Nowell was preferred to Scotland captain Stuart Hogg for his first game since early May.
Injuries sidelined Sale trio AJ MacGinty, Akker Van Der Merwe and Cameron Neild, so Du Preez took over from MacGinty, with hooker Curtis Langdon in for Van Der Merwe and Ben Curry joining his twin brother Tom in the back row.
Exeter flew out of the blocks and were ahead after five minutes, striking immediately after Tuilagi was yellow-carded.
The Chiefs forwards laid siege to Sale’s line, and Cowan-Dickie claimed the touchdown, with Simmonds’ conversion making it 7-0.
Don Armand replaced Capstick, and Sale, having pushed Exeter to the limit in last weekend’s regular-season encounter, soon fell further behind.
This time, a crunching Ollie Devoto tackle saw Sale spill possession inside their own half, and his midfield partner Henry Slade gathered before sending an unmarked O’Flaherty over.
Simmonds could not convert from the touchline, and although Du Preez then opened Sale’s account through a long-range penalty, Exeter maintained territorial dominance.
Simmonds booted a penalty that opened up a 12-point advantage, but Sale responded from the restart as wing Arron Reed beat Slade to the catch and found Van Rensburg, who finished strongly under pressure.
Van Rensburg, a late inclusion in the Sale side instead of Sam James, took his try superbly, and Du Preez’s conversion gave Exeter food for thought.
The Chiefs, though, responded by scoring a third try, and it was Nowell who claimed it, taking a quick penalty that caught Sale’s defence napping and touching down before Sharks tacklers could respond.
Simmonds added extras, and although Du Preez landed a second penalty, Exeter were good value for a 22-13 interval lead.
A Simmonds penalty increased the gap, yet Sale fortuitously hit back when Van Rensburg capitalised on Du Preez’s clever kick to score, but the officials missed what appeared to be a forward pass by Tuilagi earlier in the move.
Du Preez converted, yet Exeter soon regained the ascendancy, with Simmonds’ kick bisecting the Sale defence and Nowell claiming his second try.
Another Du Preez penalty made it a nine-point game entering the final quarter, but Wales international Cuthbert finished off a spell of relentless pressure 13 minutes from time.
Sale would still not go quietly, though, and Dan Du Preez’s 71st-minute touchdown set up an intense closing period that saw Exeter ultimately prevail as Simmonds sent over a 40-metre penalty and booked a Twickenham ticket once again.
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments