Match Report: Northampton Saints 33 – 33 Exeter Chiefs

Northampton Saints opened their 2025/26 Gallagher PREM campaign with a 33-33 draw with Exeter Chiefs.

Saints looked unstoppable having opened up a 33-7 lead at half-time, as Alex Coles scored Saints’ opening try of the season with Tom Pearson and Tom Litchfield also crossing the whitewash, as well as Edoardo Todaro – who scored a brace in his opening 40 minutes of PREM rugby.

However, Exeter turned the tide and pulled back in the second period to end the game in a tie, with Paul Brown-Bampoe scoring early, followed by No.8 Ross Vintcent grabbing a brace and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso adding another to his tally to bring Exeter level at the death.

FIRST HALF:

The visitors had a score on the board early doors courtesy of Feyi-Waboso, who spotted a gap at the edge of a ruck inside the Saints’ 22 and took the early opportunity to cross the line.

Saints levelled the scores on the ten-minute mark after a dominant scrum won a penalty and allowed fly-half Anthony Belleau to kick deep to the corner. Following a few powerful phases off the lineout, it was Coles who crashed over for Saints’ opening points of the new PREM season.

Despite the two early scores, the subsequent ten minutes were a largely tight affair with both sides struggling to find any real fluency in their attacking sets.

But eventually it was Saints who took the lead following a wonderful break from George Hendy on his 50th appearance in the Green, Black and Gold, which got Saints into the 22, and it was Pearson who eventually finished in the corner.

The hosts added another score moments later, following some beautiful handling and an outrageous out-the-back offload from James Ramm out to Todaro on the wing for a try on his PREM debut that was converted by Belleau to take the lead to 19-7.

Saints were getting into their stride, and Litchfield finished a brilliant solo effort after being put through the gap from a perfectly-timed pass from Fraser Dingwall to run it straight under the posts for the bonus-point score.

Todaro had a second before the half was out, after Northampton managed to find the edge, and Exeter couldn’t cope with the 19-year-old’s pace as the young Italian brushed past Feyi-Waboso to score under the sticks.

SECOND HALF:

Exeter started the second half in the same fashion as the first, with a try on the board early after Varney kicked in a grubber behind for Brown-Bampoe to gather and score, and Vintcent added another for the visitors shortly after, following a solo break.

The No.8 added his second following a trick play at the lineout, and Feyi-Wabsoso finished his brace shortly after, with Slade’s conversion bringing the score level at 33-all with ten minutes on the clock.

Josh Hodge was handed a 20-minute red card for a high tackle on Sam Graham, and the men in Green, Black, and Gold remained in the fight until the very final phases of the match inside Chiefs’ 22, but eventually Exeter kicked the ball out in the final play to end the game in a draw.

Northampton will take on Gloucester Rugby next weekend on the road, before returning to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens in Round 3 of the Gallagher PREM as they take on Leicester Tigers in the East-Midlands Derby on Saturday 11 October (kick-off: 3:05pm)

LINE-UPS:

SAINTS: 15 George Hendy, 14 Edoardo Todaro, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 James Ramm, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Craig Wright, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Alex Coles 5 Ed Prowse 6 Angus Scott-Young, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Callum Chick.
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 JJ Van Der Mescht, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Toby Thame.

CHIEFS: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Hammersley, 11 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 2 Joseph Dweba, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 4 Rusi Tuima, 5 Lewis Pearson, 6 Christ Tshiunza, 7 Ethan Roots (c), 8 Ross Vintcent.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Nick Lilley, 23 Kane James.