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
Misogynists have feelings too!
1 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
203 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
1 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
6 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
6 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
6 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
203 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
10 Go to comments