Not since 2021 have Exeter finished in the Prem top four, hence the heartfelt Devon roar at the final whistle. To beat their old rivals Saracens to a playoff place made this result all the sweeter for the hosts, if not for their downcast, deflated visitors. It will be the Chiefs who progress to the semi-final stage where they will meet Bath at the Rec.
In doing so, they also officially drew the curtains on Mark McCall’s 15-year tenure in charge of Sarries. This is absolutely not how the Ulsterman or his players wanted it to end but, in the first half at least, this was exactly McCall’s type of game: hard, unforgiving and intense. Give or take the salary cap saga, he will leave behind a serious body of work and big shoes to fill.
In Exeter, though, Saracens had won on only one of their previous eight trips and their prospects of improving that strike-rate started to ebb away from the moment, six minutes into the second-half, when Henry Slade scored and subsequently converted his side’s second try with the north Londoners down to 14 men in the absence of Charlie Bracken in the sin-bin.
To a large extent, the game turned on Bracken’s yellow card, awarded just before half-time when Exeter were attacking with purpose down the right and the scrum-half illegally knocked down Slade’s attempted pass to his winger Campbell Ridl. From the ensuing penalty kick to touch, a smart front-of-the-lineout move worked hooker Max Norey over in the corner and the whole tenor of the afternoon changed.
Among other things it was the first time Exeter had been ahead on a blustery afternoon. In the pre-match huddle, Jamie George could be seen spelling out a few non-negotiables with the desire to give McCall a proper send-off clearly high on the agenda. The desire was unquestionably there, but once Exeter eased into a 18-5 lead with 30 minutes left there was only going to be one winner.
Rob Baxter will be suitably pleased with his team’s defensive appetite and intent, even in the absence of Manny Feyi-Waboso. The talented winger had to have a plate inserted in his jaw this week, but England are still insisting he can be back to face South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July. Good luck with that gentle, forgiving reintroduction to full contact.
The Chiefs were also missing Greg Fisilau and, to compound everything else, contrived to present Sarries with an early gift. Harvey Skinner’s restart drop-out from his own line sailed out on the full, giving the visitors a five-metre attacking scrum which led to a try wide on the right for Tobias Elliott.
Chiefs’ lineout was also spluttering and their only points in the first half hour came from a penalty from Slade, wearing a headband to protect the ear he damaged against the Tigers. Neither side were finding the conditions easy, although the large flock of gulls hovering above the pitch seemed to be enjoying themselves.
It needed someone to grab a cagey game by the scruff and, momentarily, it looked as though Fergus Burke might have done so, the Sarries’ fly-half slicing clear and feeding Rotimi Segun outside him. The winger seemed certain to score only for the ball to be dislodged by a superb last-ditch tackle by a full-stretch Slade.
His intervention felt even more valuable when Bracken’s card and Norey’s score moments before the interval changed the dynamic of the contest. Eager to capitalise on their numerical advantage, the Chiefs stepped up the pace and, from turnover ball, Ridl and Olly Woodburn ate up 50 metres before feeding Slade to score.
The England centre, the league’s top points-scorer, ended up harvesting 17 points in all, including a second penalty and the conversion of Chiefs’ third try scored in the 64th minute by their Italian lock Andrea Zambonin. By now McCall’s Saracens crusade was effectively over but, having been scoreless for over an hour, they did manage a consolation try through Nick Isiekwe.
While Owen Farrell’s conversion – nailed from wide out in defiance of plenty of local barracking – also applied some temporary gloss to the scoreboard, the last laugh belonged to the lively Stephen Varney who scored a popular late kick-and-chase try. Baxter was even able to withdraw some of his senior men early with one eye on Bath; it would be quite a turn-up if the Chiefs, after a grim season last year, pitch up at Twickenham this month, but stranger things have happened.
