England hopeful inspires Northampton as Exeter's 13-month hunt for away win continues
Northampton leapfrogged visitors Exeter with a 34-19 victory at Franklin’s Gardens to move back into the top four of the Gallagher Premiership.
Fly-half Fin Smith – just as he did in the corresponding fixture last season – inspired Phil Dowson’s side to victory, their third league win of the campaign, with a man-of-the-match performance.
The young fly-half landed 14 points with the boot, including conversions to all of the Saints’ tries, which came courtesy of Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon, Alex Mitchell and Fraser Dingwall.
For the Chiefs, though, their search for a much-needed away win now stretches back to October 2022.
They countered with tries from Jacques Vermeulen, Scott Sio and Ethan Roots, two of which were converted by Henry Slade, but it was never enough on an afternoon when they were distinctly second best.
Buoyed by the return of England duo Courtney Lawes and Mitchell, it did not take the Saints long to get into their attacking stride, breaking the deadlock inside three minutes through Freeman.
Having seen an initial raid down the left through Tom Seabrook halted by a great cover tackle from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, the hosts worked the ball back across the pitch to Smith, whose clever grubber kick in behind found the unmarked Freeman to dot down.
Smith plundered the testing touchline conversion before adding a penalty not long after as the Saints made the most of what was an energetic start.
The Chiefs were doing their best to stay in the contest, but the concession of a number of needless penalties hampered their every move. Indeed, it was from one of those very awards that the midlanders were able to strike for a second time.
Smith’s kick to the corner positioned his forwards in prime position, the fruits of which allowed hooker Langdon to latch onto the back of the driving maul and cross in the left corner for the converted score.
Up against it, the Chiefs needed to summon a rapid response and this they did, cutting the deficit just before the break when, following some sustained pressure deep inside the Saints 22, Vermeulen was able to power over from close range.
It was the lifeline the visitors needed to get back into the contest but, after a turgid opening to the second half, it was the hosts who clicked back into gear with Smith at the heart of things.
The Northampton playmaker landed a lengthy penalty from wide on the right flank, before he was able to add the extras to a stunning third try from Mitchell. The home scrum-half cantered clear of the cover after Alex Coles, Sam Matavesi and Freeman had all combined to release him at pace.
The Saints were continuing to dominate proceedings and they thought they had claimed the all-important bonus point just before the hour through Freeman, but home cheers were dampened when the score was chalked off for a neck roll in the build-up.
The Chiefs made the most of the let-off, hitting back at the other end as strong carries from Slade and Rus Tuima created the platform for Australia international Sio to drive under the posts for the try.
But Exeter’s attempts to haul themselves further back into contention were all but ended when replacement Niall Armstrong was dismissed for catching Smith in the face with a karate-like kick as he attempted to field a high ball.
Northampton took just a few minutes to make their numerical advantage tell, the Saints using a close-range scrum to create the foundation for Dingwall to pick his spot and glide over for the converted bonus-point score.
To their credit, the Chiefs kept pushing to the end, their efforts rewarded with a late consolation score for Roots. It was, though, all a little too late for the visitors.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments