Exeter vs Saracens result: Sarries edge thrilling Premiership final to retain title and complete double
Exeter Chiefs 34-37 Saracens: The champions overhauled an 11-point deficit to defend their title
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Your support makes all the difference.Saracens secured the second double in the club’s history with a 37-34 victory in one of the all-time great Premiership finals, defeating table-toppers Exeter Chiefs to add to their European triumph and strengthen their claim as the finest club side in the world.
A breathtaking 10-try finale to the English rugby season in glorious sunshine saw Saracens claim their fifth Premiership title, and they did so in style with two tries from England hooker Jamie George on top of scores from Ben Spencer, Sean Maitland and Liam Williams.
For the second year in a row, Exeter were on the receiving end of the scoreboard, but you would not have begrudged them victory had they found a way to edge it. First-half scores from Nic White, Dave Ewers and Jonny Hill were followed by a supreme try from Henry Slade, and while Sam Hill’s consolation came too late in the day, they leave Twickenham with their heads held high.
The only sour note of a fantastic occasion came midway through the second half when England back Jack Nowell was folded over his own leg by Maitland in a completely fair challenge. Concerns for his well-being were immediate, and though he managed to limp off the field, the full-back’s face told the story. We can only pray, with the World Cup around the corner, that the injury is not severe for a player who has already seen too much pain and torment.
The last five weeks of the season have felt like a procession. Exeter and Saracens were always going to fill the top two places in the Premiership table. Even when Gloucester and Northampton Saints talked up their chances of an upset in the semi-finals, it was obvious that the true Premiership final was Exeter vs Saracens.
And so, nine months after the start of the season, the question of who is really the best team in England was finally answered.
For 27 seconds, it was undoubtedly Exeter Chiefs. Mark McCall was adamant that Saracens had plenty to learn from their semi-final demolition of Gloucester, but one thing they clearly didn’t was to secure the kick-off. Once again, George Kruis was the guilty party, and the only difference was this time it took the opponents seconds rather than minutes to capitalise as White sneaked around the ruck to score.
Joe Simmonds’ conversion gave the healthy number of travelling Exeter supporters plenty to cheer, but at that stage not even the most optimistic of Chiefs fans could have expected the game that would follow.
Saracens needed just four minutes to respond in the only way they know how. Claiming the restart, Owen Farrell went wide and Slade’s slap-down earned him 10 minutes in the sin-bin. With the man advantage, Farrell put the ball on the five-metre line, and you already knew what was coming as the 13-man shove sent George over to score.
Farrell missed the conversion but Saracens had taken control and after the fly-half kicked a penalty to take the lead when Ben Moon collapsed in the scrum, Saracens scored their second. A powerful run from Billy Vunipola and similar from Alex Lozowski took possession to within five metres, and Spencer emulated White by fooling Simmonds and Matt Kvesic to dart over and put the defending champions 13-7 to the good.
But something unusual happened. Just as Saracens prepared to assert their dominance, they lost control. Exeter, perhaps inspired by Chris Boyd’s “boring” jibes last week, played some of the most beautiful rugby in their repertoire as Slade and Nowell took over. The only issue was that despite splitting Saracens wide open across the field, the five-metre syndrome kicked in and the Chiefs relied on one-out rugby to score. For the first half though, it did not matter, as Maro Itoje replaced Slade in the sin-bin for repeated infringements. Suddenly it was Exeter with the man advantage, and they made it pay.
First it was flanker Ewers who powered his way over before fellow-forward Hill rode three defenders to score just after the half-hour mark, and if there was any team seizing control, it was Exeter. Moon’s ill-discipline struck again as he returned to his feet after being tackled to gift Farrell three points, but the 22-16 half-time advantage was a fair reflection on the game.
That said, there was still everything to play for as the dangers in this Saracens side mean they are never truly out of the game. The 18 minutes that followed the restart saw Exeter dominate possession but both fail to trouble the scoreboard. That was until a moment of magic from the Chiefs.
Slade by now had long put his sin-bin behind him and was running the show, giving opposite number Alex Lozowski a lesson in evasion and running rugby. As he drifted across the line, a flat pass to replacement Sam Skinner saw the lock beat Lozowski before committing both Goode and Michael Rhodes, and his offload gave Slade his deserved try.
The lead had been stretched to 11 points and suddenly the 75,000 inside Twickenham thought ‘surely not?’. But it was not to be.
Saracens have shown too many times that they know how to win the biggest of games, and if anyone was going to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, it was Farrell. The England captain elected for a short restart to win possession back, and two phases later sent the perfect cross-field kick for Liam Williams to claim above his head and score, with the Welshman reminding everyone why he is currently the best player in the world under the high ball.
Just four points split the teams when the unlikeliest of combinations turned the scoreboard around. Richard Wigglesworth, the 35-year-old veteran scrum-half, burst away from the breakdown and found replacement prop Ralph Adams-Hale on his shoulder. The ball was recycled quickly and with a huge overlap out wide, all Maitland needed to do was beat Slade and fall over.
Saracens had the lead for the first time in 37 minutes, yet the game was not won yet. Farrell had the chance to double the lead, yet shanked his simple penalty left of the posts. When the dust has settled from this final, his goal-kicking over the last two weeks should and will come under scrutiny.
But Saracens had one more trick up their sleeve, and after the fly-half pinned Exeter back on their own line, the forwards stole the lineout to allow a rampaging George to come around the corner and bag his second. Saracens celebrated knowing the title was in the bag, and even though Hill crossed late on, the clock struck red as the ball touched down to bring one of the greatest Premiership finals of all time to an end.
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