Where are they now? The sides when Northampton and Exeter last met at Twickenham

Northampton Saints and Exeter Chiefs will go head-to-head at Twickenham in the Gallagher PREM Final on Saturday for the right to be called champions of England, but it’s not the first time they have met in a final in South West London.

In the first eight years of the new millennium, the Chiefs played in the EDF Energy National Trophy Final four times and lost all four to Rotherham in 2002, Orrell in 2003, Cornish Pirates in 2007, and Saints 24-13 the following season.

The Saints, who were about to be promoted to the Premiership after an unbeaten season in National League One, completed a League and Cup double.

Tries from Joe Ansbro and Paul Diggin, combined with 14 points from captain Bruce Reihana’s boot, saw them lift the silverware.

Exeter, who had finished second in the league with 116 points, 27 behind Saints, scored through a Chad Slade try, which was converted by Tony Yapp, who also kicked two penalties.

These are the two teams.

EXETER CHIEFS

Gary Kingdom: Full-back, who was a director of Titans Coaching and Wellbeing, and is now working for Veterinary recruitment firm JR Veterinary.

Jason Luff: Winger. Worked as an RFU Development Officer and is now a Community Manager for the RNLI, with whom he is also a volunteer lifeboatman.

Mark Fatialofa: Centre. Has settled in Hong Kong, where he is a teacher at Yew Chung International School after a stint as a private equity analyst.

Junior Fatialofa: Centre. Was a player relationship manager and freelance coach and mentor and is now a sports coach at Scots College in Wellington.

Josh Drauniniu: England sevens winger and former Royal Navy chef, who is based in Sussex and coaching at Lindfield Rugby Academy and Horsham Rugby Club.

Tony Yapp: The fly-half, who is the brother of Lions women’s coach Jo, is Taunton Titans head coach and Director of Rugby at Blundell’s School.

Clive Stuart-Smith:  The England Saxons’ scrum half went into sports management as a senior commercial manager at Top Marque Sports and is now head of partnerships at YMU.

Dan Parkes: Tighthead. Was a Royal Navy aircraft engineer and the head coach at Plymouth Albion, and is now the managing director at Kit World, which he founded in 2008.

Sam Blythe: The former hooker is still based in Exeter, where he became a personal trainer and founded the firm Fitness Matters.

Brett Sturgess: Loosehead. Has coached his home town side, Kettering, where he started his career, and is a director of the family decorating firm.

Lewis Stevenson: The Ireland Wolfhounds lock is now back in Belfast, where he works as a doctor.

James Hanks: The lock became a sports coach and then the master in charge of rugby at Dulwich College, where he is now a housemaster.

Chad Slade: The Samoan back rower is now a programme leader with Youngtown Inc in Auckland, New Zealand.

Andy Miller: The flanker ran Borders firewood and is the managing director of a firm called the Potato Guys.

Richard Baxter: The No.8 holds the club’s appearance record. Runs the family farm and is the brother of Chiefs boss Rob.

Replacements:
Simon Jenkins is the Head of PE and sport at Holyrood Academy; Craig Dunlea is the forwards coach at the Western Force; Chris Bentley is a business development director; Tom Johnson is a personal trainer; Kevin Barrett is Head of Academy Strength and Conditioning at Saracens; Stephen Ward is an accountant; Alan Miller is a tree surgeon.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

Bruce Reihana: All Black full-back, who went into coaching and runs camps with KHAOS Sports Consultancy around the world.

Neil Starling: Winger, who went into the city working as a broker and is now working as a Divisional Director, Casualty for independent London insurance broker Pantheon Speciality.

Joe Ansbro: The Scotland centre became a Biology teacher and rugby coach at Harrow School, and is now teaching at Erskine Stewart Melville Senior School in Edinburgh.

James Downey: Centre, who was an account executive, and is now a Player Manager for management agency The Team in Ireland.

Paul Diggin: England Saxons winger, who was an assistant site manager but is now working as a sales representative in Northampton, Milton Keynes and Bedford at GRS Roadstone.

Carlos Spencer: All Blacks fly-half, who went into coaching and spent this season at Terenure College in Ireland, but is returning to New Zealand with two years left on his contract.

Mark Robinson: The All Black scrum-half settled on the Isle of Man, where he works for a venture capital firm, Yolo Investments, as Head of Investor Relations and Capital Deployment.

Sione Tonga’uiha: The Tongan loosehead’s son, Sonny, plays for Saints. Runs the Tonga’uiha Rugby Academy.

Dylan Hartley: The England and Lions hooker has worked in television and is High Performance Lead at Rugby School and Head of Sports at Bellecapital.

Euan Murray: Scotland tighthead, who was a Lions tourist, lives in Maryland, United States, and runs the Great Scottie Veterinary Clinic.

Alex Rae: Lock, who was an England Sevens international, went into coaching with Jersey and is the head coach at Coventry. Was recently named Champ Coach of the Year.

Matt Lord: A lock, who is the father of All Black Josh Lord. He returned to Owhango after a foot injury ended his career to run the family dairy farm.

Courtney Lawes: The England and Lions star has been playing for Brive in France, but next season is returning to the Gallagher Prem with Sale Sharks.

Ben Lewitt: The flanker briefly worked in the family business, The Warwickshire Beer Company, and is now an agent and the managing director of Owl Sporting Group.

Mark Easter: The No.8 has worked in Financial Services since 2018 and is a financial planner with Progeny Wealth.

Replacements:
Paul Shields handles recruitment for Saints; Barry Stewart is an investment manager at Brewin Dolphin; Darren Fox works as a Personal trainer and a Strength & Conditioning coach; Mark Hopley is the Saints head of academy; Johnny Howard was involved with Béziers; Stephen Myler works for David Williams IFA; Will Harries works as a Senior Financial Consultant at Lumin Wealth Management.