Baxter hails Chiefs’ grit as Exeter end StoneX hoodoo
WRAP: Exeter boss Rob Baxter praised his Chiefs’ fighting spirit after a first victory at StoneX Stadium since 2017, completed their 2025 redemption story.
Falling 12-3 and then 24-13 behind, Exeter had to dig deep to overcome Saracens with two tries by Greg Fisilau and one late on from Henry Slade propelling them to a 30-24 triumph.
The win lifted them to the summit of the Gallagher Prem table and they are unrecognisable from the side that occupied bottom place this time last year.
“The truth is we’ve got a group of guys with fantastic spirit,” director of rugby Baxter said.
“I can’t sit here and say we look like a team with massive rugby IQ who don’t make errors with rock-solid discipline. What I can say is we’re a team that don’t go away.
“We’ve got great spirit, great fight, great fitness. My job is to not dampen that and keep adding that little bit of detail around not beating ourselves.
“You can foster that spirit but if you foster it, then the lads have got to run with it. When we’ve built teams before, it’s a continual process.
“Sometimes it’s just as simple as getting off the floor and getting back in the fight, all 15 of you. They’ve had enough success with it now to believe in it.
“If you keep chasing kicks, keep getting off the floor, keep running hard then sooner or later things will go your way.”
Exeter muted Saracens’ Christmas celebrations despite seeing Tom Hooper and Campbell Ridl sent to the sin-bin in each half.
“We are delighted by this win and that’s a compliment to Sarries. Not many teams come here and win because they are very, very good at how they formulate to win games and keep you under pressure,” Baxter said.
All Saturday’s scores and scorers…
Saracens 24-30 Exeter Chiefs
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Caluori 2, Malins, penalty try
Cons: Farrell
For Chiefs:
Tries: Varney, Fisilau 2, Slade
Cons: Slade 2
Pens: Slade 2
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Max Malins, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl (captain), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Rotimi Segun
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ethan Roots, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 3 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Julian Heaven, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Kane James, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Will Rigg
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Dan Jones & Calum Howard
TMO: David Rose
Northampton Saints 47- 21 Sale
The scorers:
For Saints:
Tries: Pollock, Hendy 2, Thame, Kemeny, Furbank, Pearson
Cons: Smith 6
For Sale:
Tries: O’Flaherty 2, Reed
Cons: Du Preez 3
Teams
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 George Hendy, 13 Toby Thame, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Edoardo Todaro, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 JJ van der Mescht, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun,
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Cleopas Kundiona, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Tom James, 22 Tommy Freeman, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Sale Sharks: 15 Arron Reed, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Joe Bedlow, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Alex Wills, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Raffi Quirke; 8 Tom Curry, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Tom Burrow, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Si McIntyre,
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 James Harper, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Ollie Davies, 23 Tristan Woodman.
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum & Greg Macdonald
TMO: Ian Tempest
Harlequins 14-40 Bristol
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Isgro, M Smith
Cons: M Smith 2
For Bristol:
Tries: Ravouvou, Batley, Oghre, Rees-Zammit, Grondona, Genge
Cons: Jordan 3
Teams
Bristol Bears: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Kieran Marmion; 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 Lovejoy Chawatama, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore,
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Jimmy Halliwell, 19 Joe Owen, 20 Luka Ivanishvili, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Louis Rees-Zammit, 23 Aidan Boshoff.
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 Edoardo Todaro, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Toby Thame, 11 Amena Caqusau, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland; 8 Callum Chick, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 JJ Van der Mescht, 4 Ed Prowse, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun,
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tom West, 18 Cleopas Kundiona, 19 Archie Benson, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Tom James, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 James Pater.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant & Mike Hudson
TMO: Dan Jones
