Northampton snatch last-gasp victory at Exeter
WRAP: Fin Smith struck with the final play of the match as Northampton Saints edged Exeter Chiefs 35-28 in a dramatic Premiership clash at Sandy Park.
The visitors capitalised late as Exeter were reduced to 14 men following two yellow cards, a numerical disadvantage that ultimately proved decisive.
The hosts had made a flying start, with tries from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Will Rigg giving them a 14-7 lead, before Alex Mitchell and Ollie Sleightholme brought Saints back level by halftime.
Campbell Ridl restored Exeter’s advantage in the second half, but the momentum swung sharply when Feyi-Waboso was sin-binned, allowing George Furbank to level matters.
Late drama followed as both sides traded blows, including a stunning charge-down try by Paul Brown-Bampoe, before Smith’s last-gasp effort sealed victory and ensured Saints remain top of the table, with Exeter holding onto fourth place.
*Gabriel Hamer-Webb scored five tries as Leicester Tigers crushed an ill-disciplined and desperately outclassed Newcastle Red Bulls in The Prem.
Newcastle already had Elliott Obatoyinbo in the sin-bin when Jamie Blamire put the hosts ahead in the second minute, and the visitors were down to 13 men soon after when Ollie Leatherbarrow was shown a 20-minute red card for a reckless challenge.
Exeter 35-28 Northampton
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: Feyi-Waboso, Rigg, Ridl, Brown-Bampoe
Cons: Slade 4
For Northampton:
Tries: Mitchell, Sleightholme, Furbank, Pollock, Smith
Cons: Smith 5
Yellow cards: Feyi-Waboso (for Exeter, 63’), Ridl (for Exeter, 72’)
Teams:
Exeter: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Scott Sio, 2 Jack Yeandle, 3 Jimmy Roots, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Tom Hooper, 7 Ross Vintcent, 8 Greg Fisilau.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ethan Roots, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Paul Brown-Bampoe
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 George Hendy, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Tom Lockett, 4 Ed Prowse, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 2 Craig Wright, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tom West, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Archie McParland, 22 James Pater, 23 Tommy Freeman
Referee: Adam Leal
Leicester Tigers 62-3 Newcastle Red Bulls
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Blamire 2, Hamer-Webb 5, Perese, Radwan 5
Cons: Searle 3, Bailey 3
For Newcastle:
Pens: Healy
Yellow card: Obatoyinbo (for Newcastle, 1’)
Red card: Leatherbarrow (for Newcastle, 7’)
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Joaquin Moro, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Will Hurd, 19 George Martin, 20 Olly Cracknell, 22 Tom Whiteley, 23 Izaia Perese, Ollie Hassell-Collins
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Rhys Beeckmans, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Ben Healy, 9 James Elliott, 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 7 Tom Christie (c), 6 Tom Gordon, 5 Adam Scott, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Ollie Fletcher, 1 Micky Rewcastle
Replacements: 16 Samson Adejimi, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Reuben Parsons, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Fergus Lee-Warner
Referee: Joe James
Bath 48-15 Harlequins
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Carreras 2, Carr-Smith, Dunn, Richards, Bayliss, Pepper, van der Linde
Cons: Russell 3, Carreras
For Harlequins:
Tries: Bradley, Treadwell
Cons: M SmithPens: M Smith
Teams:
Bath: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Ewan Richards, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Scott Kirk
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Louie Hennessey, 23 Miles Reid
Harlequins: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Nick David, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lucas Friday, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Jack Kenningham, 6 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Chandler Cunningham-South, 3 Joe Jones, 2 George Turner, 1 Will Hobson
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Ethan Clarke, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Elliot Williams, 20 Zach Carr, 21 Will Evans, 22 Stu Townsend, 23 Sean Kerr
Referee: Sara Cox
