Exeter beat Saracens for rare Premiership victory

Gallagher Premiership

Exeter (5) 31

Tries: Innard, Rigg, Wyatt, Roots, Frost Cons: Skinner 3

Saracens (8) 22

Exeter got a confidence-boosting bonus-point win as they beat Saracens 31-22 for just their second Premiership win of the season.

Juan Martin Gonzalez was sin-binned, but Juan Innard and the Chiefs took a 5-3 lead before Tobias Elliott scored a scoreless Sarries.

Will Rigg’s attempt to get Exeter to within five points after the break, before Elliott capitalized on an error from Exeter to give Saracens a five-point lead with 20 minutes left.

The Chiefs had to give Tommy Wyatt and Ethan Roots the opportunity to win the game, but two Exeter tries in two minutes gave them just that.

Eight minutes into the Saracens’ game, Harry Wilson was sent off for a shoulder to Rusi Tuima’s head, and Exeter took advantage by beating over Dan Frost.

In the final minute, Eroni Mawi was forced over for a late consolation for the Londoners after a bit of pressure on the Exeter line.

With their first bonus-point victory of the year, Exeter move seven points clear of Newcastle’s bottom-placed team, who is ninth overall. They are now 11 points off eighth-placed Northampton.

This game, which featured a storied rivalry between the two clubs over the course of the previous ten years as they fought for title after title, couldn’t have been more different.

Exeter’s worst-ever top-flight performance came in 2013 with 13 of their 14 Premiership and European games lost, and Saracens were without many of their stars as a result of injuries and England’s Six Nations training camp.

Saracens were awarded a third-minute penalty by Alex Lozowski, but four minutes later, Juan Martin Gonzalez was given a penalty after beating Jacques Vermuelen at the ruck as he fell on his head.

Exeter capitalized on Innard’s rapid fall from a five-metre scrum as the Argentine forward was in the sin-bin.

After Hugh Tizzard’s strong run had left the home defence on the back foot, imposing young winger Elliott’s run gave Saracens’ backs the opportunity to score, he went over in the corner from Liam Williams’ pass.

Gonzalez thought he had put Saracens further ahead, but his try on the half-hour was chalked off after a knock-on in the build-up.

The hosts quickly regained control after falling three points clear at the break.

Exeter kicked to the corner in the 51st minute after a lineout mistake, and Frost was held up by a few inches before Harvey Skinner spread the ball out wide to Rigg, who scored his second Premiership try of the year.

When Ben Hammersley let Ivan van Zyl’s box kick pass through his arms, Elliott was standing to snaffle the ball and send it over for his second try, giving Exeter a blow to its fragile confidence.

However, just a few minutes later, Paul Brown-Bampoe’s wild run down the right win made it impossible for Wyatt to score a third try before Exeter hit once more.

Franco Molia fed the impressive Frost, who had to score Roots for the fourth try, by putting a box kick together by Fergus Burke.

When Wilson saw red, Saracens’ chances of leaving were shattered, and Frost was mauled over to get the fifth.

Rob Baxter, Exeter’s rugby director, stated to BBC Radio Devon:

“It’s a relief, but there’s also an enjoyment factor to it.

“I’m pleased for the lads, I’m pleased for the club, and I’m pleased for the supporters who have been here a while through thick and thin as well,” the statement read.

“That was a significant victory for us because we had a feeling of goodwill going through this next two-month block of the Six Nations.”

Without that, I believe we would still be circumspecting the question, “Are we heading in the right direction?”

“It was a much-changed Saracens side, but they were typical Saracens weren’t they? Nothing was simple out there, and a much-changed Saracens side almost put more pressure on us to accomplish something today.

Rugby Saracens coach Mark McCall:

When there are international camps, players are away, and the regular season is only 18 games long, it doesn’t feel like a Premiership weekend is necessary on a weekend like this.

With seven games left, we already said before the game that the outcome would depend on what we wanted from the game because we already knew that when the Premiership would be recommended, we would be in the mix.

We asked a small portion of a younger and inexperienced team to play big today, show how good they are, and be cautious, and we had a lot of unavailability due to international calls and the long list of casualties we have. I thought they were wonderful.

” The energy in the team, in the first 40 minutes in particular, was absolutely outstanding. We had senior players who showed up, and younger players who played big as we instructed, which continued into the second half.

“And then we had that unfortunate 45 seconds or so where they scored a try halfway through the scoring process and then another try right away,” or “14 points in no time at all.”

Replacements: Frost, Blose, Street, Tuima, Molina, Cairns, Skinner, Wimbush.

Yellow card: Molina (79)

Saracens: Williams, Elliott, Lozowski, Hartley, Jackson, Johnson, van Zyl (capt), Brantingham, Pifeleti, Balmain, Wilson, Tizard, Eke, Michelow, Gonzalez.

Replacements: Hadfield, Mawi, Clarey, Sodeke, Tompkins, Simpson, Burke, Spink.

Yellow card: Gonzalez (7)

Red card: Wilson (72)