So Exeter will head to the Premiership final at Twickenham on May 27 where they will meet either Wasps or Leicester. That’s all from me, thanks for reading.
Updated
That Henry Slade kick, which set up the lineout from which Exeter won the match, was monstrous.
It was local lad Sam Simmonds who carried the ball over officially, but it was almost every Exeter player in that maul driving the ball over the line. A remarkable finish to an entertaining match. Saracens’ hopes of a double double is over. Exeter are going to the final.
Full-time: Exeter 18-16 Saracens
The conversion wasn’t added but it doesn’t matter. What a match!
Updated
Try! (Simmonds 80) Exeter 18-16 Saracens
Exeter win their lineout and blast towards the line with shouts of ‘heave’ from the stands. The backs pile in and join the push and the red wall gives way on the line! Wayne Barnes sprints in, takes a look at the pile of bodies and awards the try. Bedlam!
Updated
78 min Exeter dominate their own scrum and win a penalty which Henry Slade kicks ridiculously to the corner from well inside his own half. They are seven metres out!
77 min Exeter patiently probe on the fringes of the Saracens defensive line. Sandy Park is a tense place right now as time runs down.
Try! (Ellery 75) Exeter 13-16 Saracens
Saracens pour forwards, red shirts filling the Exeter 22. They work it to the right wing where Schalk Brits fires a high pass to Mike Ellery overlapping who slams into Henry Slade – and falls over the top of the tackler, to touch down on the line. A fine if unorthodox finish. Farrell whips the conversion wide. Three in it, four minutes to play.
Updated
74 min A mistake by Lees who comes in from the side, and Exeter’s good spell of pressure is undone.
73 min Chudley hangs up a ridiculously high ball over Saracens’ 22-metre line. Ellery stands, catches, and is promptly wiped out by Whitten sprinting after the kick. That was a massive collision. Saracens manage only to scramble the ball off the field, and they’re under pressure.
72 min Steenson slams the penalty down into Saracens’ half.
71 min Saracens suddenly scream forwards after Wyles beats Nowell in the air, but Exeter earn a turnover as replacement Sam Simmonds forages at the breakdown. Brilliantly done.
69 min Exeter tap and go. Chudley grubbers a clever kick to the corner and no the pressure is on the Saracens lineout five metres from their line. There have been a raft of changes up front for both sides, and now Saracens’ No12 Devoto makes way for Campagnaro.
68 min The Exeter pack squeeze hard and earn a penalty from the scrum as Saracens collapse, to huge cheers around Sandy Park.
Updated
67 min Brits makes a fine burst with some lightning footwork, and a chip to the corner forces Exeter to touch down over their own line. The scrum doesn’t come to much but a minute later Exeter knock-on to hand Sarries a scrum near the centre spot.
65 min Steenson matches Farrell’s kick, landing his on the touchline to lose territory. The tension is showing.
63 min A poor kick by Owen Farrell. Frustrated by their slow progress through the middle of the field, he tries to chip one to the corner but overcooks and finds touch on the full.
61 min A lovely piece of recovery by James Short who dashes back to gather Wigglesworth’s kick, hopping along but just inside the touchline before turning away from two Saracens chasers and making 30 metres.
59 min Clever play by Farrell, who gathers a loose ball and quickly grubbers towards the corner before he could be swamped by the black shirts around him. Saracens are on the front foot.
Try! (Wyles 57) Exeter 13-11 Saracens
A brilliant move by Saracens, who string together the most phases of the match so far as they work the ball right and then wide to the left for Itoje, who times an excellent pass over the top of his tackler for Chris Wyles to touch down in the corner before Nowell could push him into touch. A crucial conversion from the touchline which the Exeter crowd fall silent for – before roaring their approval as Farrell’s kick sails wide.
Updated
54 min Saracens earn a penalty from the scrum but Farrell produces a carbon copy of Steenson’s kick in the first half, perhaps underestimating the wind and missing touch with an uncharacteristic error.
53 min Stuart Townsend gets a huge cheer as he is replaced by the more experienced Will Chudley. A fine performance by the young scrum-half.
Updated
52 min Saracens string 12 phases together but seem to be lacking the dynamism to make a meaningful break. Wayne Barnes brings the play back for a knock-on by Steenson trying to intercept. Sarries scrum on halfway.
50 min Exeter have been utterly dominant in this second half, but Mako Vunipola earns a crucial moment of relief with a turnover in the middle of the field and a penalty. Steenson slams the kick into touch in Exeter’s half and Sarries secure the lineout.
48 min A brilliant box-kick from Stu Townsend from the centre of the field, who arcs a left-footed chip inside the Sarries 22 which bounces once before finding touch.
Updated
47 min The two involved in that huge game-suspending collision earlier, Mako Vunipola and Dave Dennis, return to the field.
46 min Exeter have all the momentum right now. Dollman joins the back line and receives Steenson’s pass before cutting inside and making 10 metres, but he’s penalised for a knock-on and Saracens will have a scrum.
45 min Schalk Brits replaces Jamie George as Saracens look to add some energy.
Try! (Nowell 43 + Steenson con) Exeter 13-6 Saracens
From the resultant scrum Exeter fly forwards with quick ball from each ruck. Devoto makes a crucial line break on the right wing and when Jack Nowell scoops up the loose ball Saracens can’t prevent him diving over the line. Steenson adds two more.
Updated
42 min Both Mako and Dave Dennis go off for head injury assessments. Lamositele and Lees are their replacements respectively.
42 min Itoje fumbles the kick-off and immediately Exeter pounce. Townsend jinks into a gap before they work the ball into the centre, but they run out of ideas and go backwards before a huge collision between Mako Vunipola and Dave Dennis forces Wayne Barnes to pause the game. I felt that.
The second half is under way, for a place in the Premiership final at Twickenham on May 27.
That was an odd half, in that Exeter had lots of the ball and most of the momentum but only played in meaningful areas of the pitch in the final ten minutes or so. A lot was down to Farrell simply making better decisions with the boot than Steenson, and executing better kicks too. But Exeter will have the wind behind them in the second half so we’ll see if they can make it count.
If it remains a draw:
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) May 20, 2017
10 minutes extra time each way, if still equal:
Most tries, if same:
Place kicking competition.
Half-time: Exeter 6-6 Saracens
Nip and tuck.
39 min Suddenly Jack Nowell throws a dummy to slip off two tacklers and he’s away, speeding towards the posts, but he’s brought down by the last man – Dollman, I think – and knocks on trying to offload.
Updated
37 min Exeter are back on the attack in the final minutes of the half, carefully plotting their way through. Ten phases down and they are still searching.
35 min The scrum is reset ... and again. Third time lucky and Waldrom picks from the back. He powers forward but is stopped at the last by his opposite number Billy Vunipola with a brilliant try-saving tackle, and a couple of phases later Vunipola stays on his feet at the ruck to force a penalty, earning a turnover for Saracens almost single-handedly.
32 min Saracens go on the front foot after winning the kick-off, with Schalk Burger powering into the 22. But when Stu Townsend anticipates a pass Exeter win the ball back and burst forwards, playing flowing rugby and forcing Sarries to touch down over their own line. Exeter will have a 5-metre scrum.
Penalty (Steenson 31) Exeter 6-6 Saracens
Gareth Steenson converts a simple kick to level the scores.
29 min Dollman jinks through a gap barely there in the middle of the field, rousing the crowd as he makes 10, 20, 30 yards before being hauled to the floor around the 22. Exeter bring their forwards into play but the ball is slow. Suddenly Devoto adds some pace and at a scrappy breakdown Saracens are penalised for hands on the floor. Penalty in a central position, 20 metres from the posts.
Penalty (Steenson 26) Exeter 3-6 Saracens
Exeter are on the board.
24 min Exeter heave their way to the Sarries line for the first time. Several pick and gos come close to delivering a try before a pile of red shirts hold up the ball – Wayne Barnes awards a penalty to Exeter for some hands on the floor, right under the posts.
23 min A livewire piece of defending by Whitten pinches the ball as Saracens were trying to spread the ball wide, and he rushes 50 metres before eventually being brought to ground.
21 min Saracens are enjoying a dominant period, working through the phases in Exeter’s half, but each time they near the try line they are forced back.
19 min Exeter turn the ball over and when Jamie George comes in from the side, the Chiefs have a penalty 40 yards out. It seems like an opportunity to get on the scoreboard but, with the wind against, Steenson instead elects to kick to touch. He doesn’t make huge gains though, and Exeter’s pressure peters out.
Updated
17 min Itoje rips the ball from a dithering Townsend, but gets the rub of the green and earns a scrum for Saracens in the centre of the field.
Penalty (Farrell 15) Exeter 0-6 Saracens
And Saracens are going to make Exeter pay for that missed touch. An untidy lineout hands Sarries a 5m-scrum from which they force another penalty. Farrell converts.
Updated
13 min With the replacements coming on Exeter had been taking advantage, winning a penalty in the centre of the field with some excellent work at the breakdown. But Steenson failed to find touch and a moment later Owen Farrell relieves the pressure with a brilliant 60-yard clearance to the corner.
12 min Michael Rhodes has also been forced off, meaning two quick changes early in this match for Saracens. Schalk Burger is his replacement.
11 min Chris Ashton has been down receiving treatment after a collision. He can’t continue, and looks devastated to come off. Mike Ellery is on.
9 min A chip to the corner sparks a foot race between Nowell and Wyles, with the Saracens wing looking for a try, but the Exeter wing recovers well to clear the danger.
7 min The first scrum of the match is a Sararcens ball in Exeter’s half, but prop Mako Vunipola is penalised. Despite the penalty, it’s not a great start at the set-piece for Sarries.
6 min Ashton and Taylor combine deep in Exeter territory to drag the Chiefs full-back Dollman over touch, but Jamie George gets a rare lineout wrong and Saracens waste opportunity.
Penalty (Farrell 4) Exeter 0-3 Saracens
Owen Farrell is more than 40m out, wind swirling, but lands the kick to leave the home support sitting very quietly.
3 min An early joust for territory sparks a kicking game. Jack Nowell collects Alex Goode’s high ball and goes on a scamper, getting the crowd up. A couple of phases later, though, and Exeter are penalised at the breakdown just inside their half. Penalty.
Updated
1 min Farrell gets the game going and Exeter secure the ball, before Jack Nowell kicks into Sarries’ half.
Owen Farrell leads out the European champions with captain Brad Barritt out injured injured. Ian Whitten has the honour for Exeter on his 100th appearance. Here we go...
Kick-off imminent. It’s going to be noisy...
Show of Hands' Steve Knightley finally gets some noise out of The Library pic.twitter.com/Auu1RcEZWv
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) May 20, 2017
If you’d like some more pre-match chit chat from Jack Nowell to get in the mood, here he is:
Preamble
On the face of it this will be a tough task for an Exeter side who have not beaten Saracens this year, losing at Sandy Park at the start of the season before a 13-13 draw at Allianz Park in January. Today they meet a buoyant Sarries team fresh from retaining their European Champions crown and motivated to secure a famous ‘double double’.
Then again, the Chiefs come into the semi-finals with the finest domestic form around. Their 15-match unbeaten streak in the Premiership finished with eight successive bonus-point wins, a run which earned the right to host today. The potential boost of playing at home is something Jack Nowell, a try-scorer in last year’s final defeat against Saracens, is keen to capitalise on. “Speaking to other players, it is a bit daunting to come down to Sandy Park,” said the England wing. “A lot of history says the home side in the semi-finals normally go through but when you play against Saracens they can bring anything. I’m sure in their camp they’ve been talking about the double double, but for us it’s just another game.”
The Saracens team is much the same as that which began their European Champions Cup triumph over Clermont; Duncan Taylor comes into midfield in Mark McCall’s only swap replacing the captain Brad Barritt, who has a calf injury. For Exeter, Thomas Waldrom and Don Armand return to the back row and Phil Dollman also comes back into the side. Henry Slade only makes the bench while Olly Woodburn, scorer of nine tries in the regular season, misses out through injury.
Exeter left it too late to show their stuff in last year’s final, going down 28-20. They are determined not to make the same mistake today.
Exeter
Dollman; Nowell, Whitten, Devoto, Short; Steenson (c), Townsend; Moon, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Dennis, Parling, Horstmann, Armand, Waldrom.
Replacements Yeandle, Rimmer, Francis, Lees, S Simmonds, Chudley, Slade, Campagnaro.
Saracens
Goode; Ashton, Bosch, Taylor, Wyles; Farrell (c), Wigglesworth; M Vunipola, George, Koch, Itoje, Kruis, Rhodes, Wray, B Vunipola.
Replacements Brits, Lamositele, Du Plessis, Brown, Burger, Spencer, Lozowski, Ellery.
Referee Wayne Barnes (Gloucestershire, equidistant between Exeter and London. That’s the genius of its location).
Kick-off 2.30pm BST
Updated
