Northampton v Exeter: Five takeaways as PREM Rugby Final delivers much-needed ‘riposte’ while Saints stalwart gets ‘fairytale’ ending
George Furbank and Northampton Saints celebrate with PREM Rugby trophy.
A sold-out Twickenham, a captain’s farewell written in gold, and a PREM Rugby final that swapped polish for passion and was richer for the trade. Our five takeaways from Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs.
The day belonged to the competition
Before a tackle was logged or a lineout lost, this final had already won something. A crowd of 81,126 filled every tier of Allianz Stadium, two enormous travelling supports painting the bowl in their colours and roaring from first whistle to last. The pre-match did its job too, the American ring announcer David Diamante summoning the sides onto the turf in that unmistakable growl, a new trophy twice the weight of the old one carried out to set the tone, a fanzone humming all afternoon outside.
English club rugby has spent recent seasons defending its very existence against a backdrop of financial gloom, so a packed house at headquarters bellowing two well-matched teams into a showpiece is the riposte the game needed. Whatever the 80 minutes delivered, the occasion delivered first. This is a competition learning to sell its spectacle again, and on this evidence the appetite is enormous. The day belonged to PREM Rugby before it belonged to anyone in black, green and gold.
The Artists outlasted the Artisans
Here was the contest in two words; Northampton played as Artists, painting in fast, ambitious strokes, and the numbers leave no argument about who owned the canvas. 58 per cent of possession across the match and 64 in the second half, 107 rucks to 61, a flawless 100 per cent off their own lineout. Player of the Match Henry Pollock carried 16 times and beat eight defenders, whilst Tommy Freeman made two clean breaks and a game-high 81 metres, and Fin Smith ran the whole thing with a conductor’s calm and a brilliant kick strategy. Smith was arguably the finest player on the field by a distance, his kicking from hand a masterclass in territory and shape, two turnovers won at the other end, and a try of his own on the half-hour to crown it.
Exeter answered as Artisans, craftsmen of the unglamorous, and their currency was the tackle and their huge belief and power. They made 183 of them to Northampton’s 101, a number that tells you everything about how the afternoon felt for them, a side hanging on by its fingernails and refusing to let go. For long stretches Saints could not find their finish. Pollock was held up over the line, 12 phases on the Exeter five yielded nothing, and Campbell Ridl produced a miracle to deny Alex Mitchell when a try looked certain. The masterpiece sat unfinished and the inquest loomed. Then, with the game crying out for an end product, Northampton found it, George Hendy crossing twice in the corner to settle it. The Artists did it, and Northampton, in the end, framed their own work.
Exeter go down with their heads high
Spare a long look at the Chiefs, because defeat does no justice to their journey. 12 months ago this was a ninth-placed side searching for an identity. Rob Baxter has rebuilt them into a team that finished third, exhumed itself from 16 down to bury the champions Bath at the Rec, and then walked into a sold-out Twickenham and led the final with half an hour to play.
The defiance was everywhere today; Ethan Roots, back from concussion, flattened Smith with a hit that nearly took the roof off. Greg Fisilau and Len Ikitau hammered the gain line all afternoon, and Ikitau even poached a turnover for good measure. Ridl’s try-saving tackle was the single image of their resistance, the soul of the side in one act.
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The craft came from Stephen Varney, the scrum-half supplying the only sustained quality in blue, an exquisite 50:22 from his own half to win a foothold and the sumptuous pass that sent skipper Dafydd Jenkins over for the lead. The one thing that broke them was the set piece, a lineout that returned a wretched 60 per cent and was raided again and again by Alex Coles and Ed Prowse. Win that ball cleanly and Exeter might have turned their pressure into a very different scoreline. They could not, and it cost them. Even so, Baxter walks away with a young spine, a clear identity and a platform that points upward and there’s little doubt the Chiefs are on the rise.
The bench and the cards turned it
Two factors decided a tight final; the first was depth. Phil Dowson loaded his bench six-two for exactly the closing quarter that wins finals, and it paid in full. JJ van der Mescht thundered on and lifted the carry, Callum Chick raised the physical level, and the prop Danilo Fischetti jackaled turnovers like a flanker. Fresh power against emptied legs is a one-way street, and Northampton’s 64 per cent second-half possession was the dividend of having more to give when it mattered.
The second was discipline, and it swung twice. Josh Kemeny went to the bin for a head shot on Jenkins, and while Saints were down to fourteen, Exeter struck for the Jenkins try and the lead. The pendulum then swung straight back. Jenkins himself was yellow-carded for a high hit on Furbank, the sanction kept to 10 minutes by the mitigation of the full-back dropping into the contact, and in the Exeter captain’s absence Northampton scored both of Hendy’s tries to take the game away.
The cards were the hinge, and Exeter’s came at the fatal hour. A word, too, for Matthew Carley, who refereed with feel and courage all afternoon, the Jenkins mitigation and a late rugby-incident call on an accidental head clash both spot on.
Furbank’s fairytale, and a final to recall
He swore in the build-up that you have to earn your fairytale and George Furbank earned his. Man and boy at this club, he came through the academy in 2016 and made his senior debut against, of all sides, Exeter, marking it with a try. 10 seasons on, he led Saints out at a packed Twickenham one last time before Harlequins, and signed off with the trophy in his hands, 68 metres made and a clean break on the day for good measure. The numbers frame a one-club life, more than 140 appearances, 283 points, a Prem title in 2023/24, the 66th captaincy in the club’s history and 14 England caps. The farewell tour was nearly stolen from him by arm, concussion, calf and knee trouble that limited him to a handful of games across two dark seasons. He got the ending he had been denied all that time.
So the bow on a wild afternoon. This was short on accuracy, heavy on errors, the lineouts ragged and the chances spurned by the bucketload. It was also overflowing with heart, the kind of final that sends people home hoarse and happy. Just desserts for Northampton, the better side across 80 minutes and deserving champions. Deep respect to Exeter, whose rebuild and refusal lit up the contest. A great final in every aspect that matters. The skill came and went, but the passion remained; what a game!
READ MORE: Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs, LIVE BLOG: Our coverage of the PREM Rugby Final