Northampton hang on to play-off spot despite collapse at dominant Exeter

Next week’s Premiership semi-final will involve these same two teams on the exact same stretch of Devon grass and Exeter will surely fancy a similar outcome. The Chiefs blew slightly hot and cold in this helter-skelter prequel but with a shade more precision the muscular hosts would have scored more than the six tries which has confirmed them as regular season league winners, eight points ahead of the runners-up, Saracens.

This bonus-point victory has already ensured they have achieved more points and scored more tries in a 22-game domestic season than they have ever done en route to a fourth consecutive last-four appearance. Rob Baxter, their director of rugby, confirmed afterwards, however, that nothing was yet guaranteed and remains wary of a Northampton side who have made the semis for the first time since 2015. “The job’s far from done,” warned Baxter. “Northampton are a very dangerous side, as they showed numerous times today. We’re going to have to be prepared to work at least as hard again next week if we want to get to the final.”

Chiefs will certainly be looking for a more controlled first-half performance, having turned the ball over too frequently for a side with pretensions to winning Twickenham silverware. Northampton, meanwhile, will be hoping the England captain Dylan Hartley will be fit to return and that their South African scrum-half Cobus Reinach, who limped off early in the second half, recovers sufficiently for the rematch.

The Saints, however, have already been partially rewarded for the improvement this season under the shrewd guidance of Chris Boyd. Their attacking game is unrecognisable from the stolid fare of recent seasons and the game’s opening try was a good example, a lovely looping pass from Dan Biggar putting Jamie Gibson clear and the flanker showing good awareness to find Ahsee Tuala on his inside. Alex Cuthbert came charging across to make a brave cover tackle but there was no stopping Piers Francis from dotting down.

Exeter’s response was a decent reflection of their recent form: devastating in bursts but not as consistently accurate as they would like. Henry Slade scored an excellent try, courtesy of Ollie Devoto’s deft little grubber kick, but another eye-catching score for Olly Woodburn was ruled out by a fractional forward pass.

Chiefs were looking the stronger side without enjoying prolonged control and it was not a huge surprise when another sharp Saints counterattack enabled the fleet-footed Rory Hutchinson to exploit a midfield mismatch and put the visitors back in front. It left the Chiefs with two options: tighten up or risk the kind of madcap romp that might rebound on them. Sensibly they chose the latter, squeezing the Saints pack to the point where their pips started to squeak.

Two close-range tries from Ben Moon and Don Armand inside five minutes duly put the hosts ahead again and, with Biggar temporarily in the blood bin, the Saints’ problems were about to intensify. First Courtney Lawes and then Alex Waller were pointed to the sin-bin for professional fouls, leaving them to defend a scrum under their own posts with 13 men on the field. A Chiefs bonus-point score looked guaranteed, only for Devoto to make one of the most glaring split-second misjudgments of the season. Despite having a man outside him with the vacant line beckoning the former Bath centre opted for an inside ball instead and picked out the lurking Reinach who duly raced 95 metres for another of his trademark interception tries.

Exeter were also in danger of achieving the feat of failing to score a single point during their spell with a two-man advantage before Matt Kvesic finally restored order, breaking off the side of a driven maul for his side’s fourth try. It still required a slick score from a galloping Dave Dennis direct from a lineout to make the game absolutely safe, with Exeter fans also cheered by a further try from Luke Cowan-Dickie and the return from injury of their Test forwards Sam Skinner and Sam Simmonds. While losing their England loosehead Alec Hepburn to an injury before kick-off was a blow, what really matters now is next weekend’s sequel.