Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints

A dominant defensive display from Exeter Chiefs saw them defeat Northampton Saints 31-14 at Sandy Park to book their place in the PREM Rugby Cup final.

A four-try display from Rob Baxter’s men earns them a shot at the title against either Leicester Tigers or Bath Rugby, who battle it out in the second semi-final.

To the backdrop of the roar of the home crowd, Chiefs opened the afternoon’s scoring after just two minutes played. Scrum-half Tom Cairns took a snipy pick-and-go from the ruck, skipping through the midfield with Josh Hodge running a support line on his shoulder.

Cairns took the offload option, sending his full-back in beneath the posts, giving Henry Slade a simple conversion to slot for the full seven points.

Northampton’s pack earned a penalty on Chiefs’ five-metre line a few short minutes later. Working the ball through quick phases, centre Tom Litchfield took the final pass, stretching an arm out to the line for Saints’ first try. Fly-half Anthony Belleau converted to make the scoreboard draw even.

Slade nudged the Chiefs back ahead when he took a clean shot at goal after the referee awarded an Exeter penalty for offside on the edge of the Saints 22.

The physical tole of the first half soon began to tell. Jimmy Roots had to have his ear bandaged up, blood wiped from his face before Saints’ George Hendy had to be helped from the field with an apparent leg injury and Josh Kemeny sent for a HIA.

Chiefs stayed in the hunt for more points. With a tap-and-go on the Saints line, captain Jack Yeandle took the gruelling first carry before Roots held the ball just long enough in the second wave to find an offload to Zack Wimbush.

The young centre crashed over beneath the posts before his midfield parter Slade knocked over the conversion.

It took two minutes from the restart for Chiefs to cross the whitewash again. Greg Fisilau took a pick-and-go carry from inches out to add five points to Chiefs’ tally before Slade made quick work of adding a further two.

Opportunity knocked for Saints’ Litchfield when he made a charging break downfield, forcing Chiefs onto the back-foot. However, an impressive last-ditch tackle from Cairns forced a fumble and Exeter cleared the danger.

While the majority of Chiefs’ second half performance was spent on the defensive, there was still time for Hodge to snare a try-brace.

On 70 minutes, Saints were attacking the Chiefs line but spilled the ball on. Replacement Will Haydon-Wood caught Saints napping when he whipped a pass out to Slade who in turn released another Chiefs replacement, Campbell Ridl. The young winger broke downfield from his own 22, only brought down by a tackle at the bootlaces from James Martin.

In a moment of quick-thinking, Ridl popped an offload up from the floor for Hodge to run onto. The Chiefs full-back then ran the try in unchallenged before Slade added the extras.

There was a consolation try on 79 minutes for Northampton through Charlie Ulcoq, converted by Belleau, but Chiefs supporters had already begun to celebrate.

Now intrigued eyes turn to the second semi-final. A win for Leicester Tigers would see Chiefs go on the road for a final at Mattioli Woods Welford Road whereas a win for west-country rivals Bath Rugby would bring a rematch of last year’s final back to Sandy Park.