Following Northampton Saints’ last-gasp 35-28 Gallagher PREM Rugby victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
This dry-ball contest featuring title-challenging teams revelled in some rollicking early moments, plenty of mid-game stodge and then another rip-roaring period coming down the finishing straight. By the time referee Adam Leal’s final whistle had blown, it was the Saints who were joyously celebrating.
Just as it seemed the teams were set to play out a 28-all draw following on from the 33-all match they produced in round one of the league back in September, Fin Smith ran a super support line to take a pass out of the tackle from Fraser Dingwall, step Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and break the deadlock with just seven seconds remaining.
It was a fantastic finish, helped by Exeter still being a yellow card player short, but it demonstrated exactly why Saints are being talked about as potential PREM Rugby champions, whereas a successful campaign for the Chiefs would be holding onto fourth place and making the semi-finals.
The bristling start in Devon had Feyi-Waboso scoring after just 79 seconds and Will Rigg adding Exeter’s second on seven minutes before Alex Mitchell replied on 14.
We were then treated to a 50:22 from Northampton No.8 Callum Chick, winced at the pain that Exeter veteran Jack Yeandle was in when getting helped off following a foot injury, and nodded in agreement when an Ollie Woodburn try was correctly chalked off for a Ridl knock-on.
Handling errors from both teams also became a theme, but it all clicked from a Saints perspective in the second minute of added time when a rangy Smith pass got Ollie Sleightholme in at the corner to leave it 14-all at the break.
That parity stuck until Will Haydon-Wood’s super 59th minute break through the middle carved open the visitors and ended with Ridl. That lit the firecracker for a thrilling final quarter.
With Feyi-Waboso yellow-carded for a deliberate knock on, George Furbank got the Saints back on terms on 64 minutes, and despite then having a Josh Kemeny try chalked off, Saints hit the front on 73 minutes through Henry Pollock at a time when Exeter were down to 13 as Ridl was carded before Feyi-Waboso’s return.
That should have been game, set and match, but it wasn’t. A Henry Slade penalty didn’t make touch, but Sleightholme’s attempted clearance was charged down by sub Paul Brown-Bampoe and the converted try levelled it all up at 28-all.
A draw would have been a fair outcome, but Smith and his Saints just don’t do parity.
Two super subs
A pair of subs were at the heart of this thrilling PREM Rugby conclusion. Having just fallen approaching the hour mark, Saints’ SOS ushered Pollock into the action and he was full value in what he achieved.
There was a textbook penalty-winning turnover on Tom Hooper and then a gallop at the line from the 22 that resulted in the carding of the falling to roll away Ridl before the back-rower got on the scoreboard with the well-finished try that got Saints in front for the first time with seven minutes remaining.
That was great going, but Pollock wasn’t the only sub to perform with match-defining intelligence. With Exeter having lost Feyi-Waboso to the bin, it was all hands to the pump and Brown-Bampoe stood out for the unselfish way he committed to the chase.
Saints thought they had a try on 67 minutes through Kemeny, but long after it had been awarded and the ensuing conversion missed, the referee Leal was asked to review an aerial contest on the halfway line. It showed that at the start of the attack, Saints had knocked on in the air under pressure from Brown-Bampoe.
What followed 10 minutes later, though, was even better. Slade’s missed touchfinder seemed to have given Sleightholme a straightforward clearance kick, but he was charged down by Brown-Bampoe for the converted try that levelled the scores.
Two subs, two brilliant cameos.
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The Baxter revival
We’ve all known for some time now how super a side Phil Dowson’s Saints are. PREM title winners in 2024, Champions Cup finalists in 2025, etc., etc. But what about Exeter? They were in such a crisis not long ago that there was speculation that Rob Baxter, their long-serving director of rugby, was next for the chopping block.
Not anymore. Unlike this time last year, when they were on their way to a brutal 14-losses-in-18 campaign, the DOR’s promising rebuild has earned him a multi-year contract extension at a time when new funds are set to come into the club’s coffers.
It said much about the durability that now exists in the Exeter ranks that it needed a last-gasp try to deny them from adding a deserved draw to their four recent league and cup wins.
Success in the PREM should prove to be beyond the Chiefs in the play-offs; Saints and Bath have way more in them at their best, but don’t be surprised to see Baxter leading his team to EPCR Challenge Cup glory next month.
In Will Skinner and Stephen Varney, they have a half-back partnership committed to moving the ball quickly behind a revitalised pack where the likes of Dafydd Jenkins and Greg Fisilau are now in their pomp. Add in an upbeat Slade and a mix exists that is pleasing on the eye.
With five rounds remaining in the league, they just need to stay the course and not allow fifth-place Bristol, who are four points behind after this weekend’s results, to spoil a progress that few if any predicted happening last year with the Devon club in crisis.
Exeter were ultimately beaten by Saints, but there was so much in their play to admire, given the perilous place they have come from.
Sturdy stuff
The cat jumped out of the bag the other week with Harlequins finally confirming their long-speculated capture of Furbank from Saints. He will certainly be missed by the Franklin’s Gardens club, and the way he can fire up an attack was evident in the cracking finish to this match.
Knowing there was space in behind with Feyi-Waboso in the bin, Furbank was clinical when dashing after a Smith kick-ahead to score and get back level, while his timing in joining the line and executing a space-creating pass was also evident.
Of course, he wasn’t alone in carrying the threat to Exeter. The soon-to-be 24-year-old Tom Litchfield has accelerated through the gears in recent times and was again excellent at Sandy Park. A shout-out must also go to Chick and his calibre of ball carrying in the traffic.
Smith, though, will definitely believe he was a worthy match-winner. Long before his last-gasp dramatics, he was revelling in tackle after tackle, the sort of industry so many out-halves run a mile to avoid. He sure is made of sturdy stuff.
Feyi-Waboso’s ‘urgent’ work-on
Fit-again Exeter winger Feyi-Waboso is certainly playing with a smile since his recent return. Having missed the Six Nations with England due to a hamstring injury sustained in January, his powerful presence was missed by Steve Borthwick and co and it’s Baxter and the Chiefs who are now benefitting – at least in attack.
It was Easter Saturday against Munster in the Challenge Cup when he finally made good his latest return to the field, scoring a stomping try and collecting the player of the match award despite only featuring for 45 minutes.
His enthusiasm was fuelled by another try in last weekend’s EPCR quarter-final win at Benetton and he brought this potency back home on Saturday, lighting up Sandy Park with an excellent finish less than a minute and a half into the match.
Three tries in three matches since returning from injury is a super record, but his defence has some urgent work to get done. His deliberate knock-on to deny a line break, which resulted in a yellow card, hurt his team, and it didn’t go unnoticed that on his return, he was far too easily stepped by Smith on his way to the winning score.