Exeter Chiefs survive Saints scare to make fourth consecutive final
Exeter reached a fourth successive Premiership final after beating play-off rivals Northampton 42-12 at Sandy Park.
The Chiefs will face title holders Saracens at Twickenham next Saturday – the third time in four years for those clubs to contest English rugby’s biggest domestic prize, and a repeat of last season’s final.
A week after defeating Saints 40-21 on the final day of regular season action, Exeter again powered to victory following a tight opening 40 minutes.
Tries by prop Harry Williams and fly-half Joe Simmonds gave Exeter a flying start, but Saints responded before the break with a penalty try and full-back Ahsee Tuala’s touchdown.
Exeter, though, pulled away during the third quarter as lock Dave Dennis and wing Tom O’Flaherty added further scores.
Substitute Sam Simmonds then claimed a late score, as did centre Sam Hill, with Simmonds’ brother Joe converting all six tries for a 17-point haul.
The Chiefs were champions in 2017, beating Wasps after extra-time, but their two previous showdowns with Saracens ended in defeat.
Exeter made one change to their starting line-up, with O’Flaherty replacing Olly Woodburn, while Northampton handed Fish a start instead of the injured Reece Marshall.
Props Francois Van Wyk and Ehren Painter were also called up, but there was no role for Dylan Hartley, who is back in training but has not played since December due to knee trouble.
The Chiefs sacrificed an early kickable penalty and saw flanker Dave Ewers held up over the line by Saints scrum-half Cobus Reinach’s tackle, and it remained scoreless after 15 minutes.
Northampton, though, could not hold out for much longer and Exeter went ahead when Williams powered over from close range for a try that Simmonds converted to confirm Chiefs’ dominance.
Saints could not make an impression on the game, and with Exeter continuing to opt for touch rather than kick for goal, that approach was rewarded after 22 minutes with a second try.
Centre Ollie Devoto proved an impressive creative force in midfield, but Simmonds still had plenty to do, yet he beat two defenders comfortably and touched down for a score that he also converted.
But the game took an unexpected turn as Saints scored 12 points in two minutes, responding to a sizeable deficit in sparkling fashion.
They opened their account through a penalty try awarded against O’Flaherty – he was yellow-carded by referee Matt Carley for an illegal challenge that prevented Fish from grounding the ball – then conjured a wonder-try.
Scintillating off-loading sparked by wing Tom Collins’ brilliant catch and sprint involved Tuala and centre Rory Hutchinson before Tuala crossed.
Biggar could not convert, but Northampton were well and truly back in the contest, trailing by just two points approaching half-time.
Just as quickly as Northampton fought back, though, so Exeter pulled away again, scoring two tries in three minutes shortly after the break.
Dennis crossed following relentless forward pressure for Chiefs’ third try, then O’Flaherty produced a 50-metre solo spectacular, breaking clear before leaving Biggar rooted to the spot as he scorched outside him and finished majestically.
Simmonds kicked both conversions, and Exeter led 28-12 with more than 30 minutes of the contest remaining.
Northampton, this time, had too much of a mountain to climb as the Chiefs booked another appointment with Saracens at English rugby headquarters, scoring 28 unanswered second-half points.
Comments on RugbyPass
Like 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.
14 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.
13 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?
4 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.
4 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.
26 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 🤐
14 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
14 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
14 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
13 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
14 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
14 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
14 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to comments