The Exeter Chiefs take on the Northampton Saints at Sandy Park on Saturday the 25th of May in the second of this weekend’s Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.
The Exeter Chiefs will be looking to secure a fourth successive English Premiership finals appearance by getting one over the Northampton Saints. The hosts enjoyed a stellar regular season finishing at the summit of the standings. Northampton, on the other hand, scraped into the final semi-final berth by virtue of a superior points differential.
Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
Saturday 25 May
Sandy Park
17:30
To Win (80 Mins)
Exeter 2/10
Draw 30/1
Northampton 33/10
Exeter
The Exeter train shows no signs of letting up with the 2016/17 champions winning 17 of their regular season games on the way to topping the Gallagher Premiership standings. Their lofty finished ensured they enjoy a home semi-final this weekend against fourth-place Northampton.
Two of the Chiefs regular season losses actually came over the past two months with this weekend’s hosts going down 19-26 to Wasps in Round 19 and 38-7 to Saracens in Round 21. The results shouldn’t be taken at face value, however, as Exeter rotated their squad for both of these fixtures. They also head into the semi-final off the back of a 40-21 win over this weekend’s opponents, who they will play for the second week running.
Northampton
The Saints will know they are in for an uphill battle against an Exeter side who well and truly had their number last week. The Saints actually put up a decent fight in the first half and went into the break level at 21-21 with their illustrious opponents. The second stanza saw Exeter run riot, however, with the Chiefs going on to score 19 unanswered points.
If Northampton are to avoid another defeat here then they are going to have to sharpen up on defence. They let in far too many soft tries last weekend. They will also need to find a way to counter the Chiefs much-vaunted lineout drive.
Verdict: Exeter 2/10
I can see the Chiefs putting another big score over Northampton here. They have the pack to demolish their opponents, and some of their backs are in top form.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets.
