Spirited Saints bow out as Exeter secure Champions Cup semi-final spot

The black, green and gold, who dominated possession and territory for long periods, refused to go away, even when the home side were building what seemed to be unassailable leads.

And scores from Teimana Harrison and Fraser Dingwall gave Saints something to shout about in the last-eight encounter at Sandy Park.

But it wasn't to be anywhere near enough as the clinical Chiefs made the most of some extremely porous defending on several occasions to set up a semi-final against Toulouse.

Saints had gone into the game on the back of a run of 10 defeats from their past 12 matches, the most recent of which was at Leicester Tigers a week earlier.

But with Exeter's lineout wobbling early on, Saints took a shock lead at Sandy Park, with Dan Biggar easily slotting a penalty from in front of the posts.

Saints were playing the formative stages of the match in Exeter territory, with Biggar constantly looking for crossfield kicks into the hands of his wingers.

But nothing was quite falling the way of Ahsee Tuala or Matt Proctor and finally Exeter got a foothold in the game.

And it didn't take long for them to pounce as Henry Slade cut through Saints and sent Jack Maunder over under the posts.

Joe Simmonds added the extras and he was doing so again on 26 minutes after his pack's power had provided a try for flanker Jacques Vermeulen.

It was already looking a long way back at 14-3 down, but Saints responded superbly, cranking up the heat in their own forward pack to grab a score three minutes before the break.

Captain Harrison was the man who got it thanks to a hugely dominant drive from a lineout as Exeter continued to concede penalties in their own half.

Biggar brilliantly converted from close to the touchline and Saints even threatened to lead at half-time, but Henry Taylor turned back after breaking the Exeter line and the hosts survived.

And Exeter made the most of that reprieve just two minutes into the second half as Jack Nowell slalomed his way through some disappointing defending to score.

Simmonds converted to make it 21-10 before Saints again tried to respond, kicking a penalty to the corner, but Exeter held out, even if looked like they had done it illegally.

But while Saints had huffed and puffed in the Exeter 22, the Chiefs were far more ruthless, going to the corner and seemingly scoring with ease as Jonny Hill went over.

Simmonds converted to make it 28-10, but Saints snatched a try almost immediately as Dingwall flew past a couple of attempted tackles and dived over.

Biggar missed and Simmonds soon made him pay by landing a penalty that took Exeter 16 points clear.

Saints still kept battling, putting pressure on the hosts in their own half, but the Exeter defence was relentlessly resolute, blocking black, green and gold shirts at every turn.

The Chiefs were also conceding a huge amount of penalties though, giving Saints regular chances to launch attacks.

But they came to nothing as Saints finally lost a lineout, allowing Exeter to escape.

There was one final moment of enjoyment for Manny Iyogun before the end as the 19-year-old signed off from a huge 72-minute showing by helping his side win a scrum penalty.

But those were the only real celebrations on the Saints bench towards the end as Exeter scored again through Vermeulen, with Gareth Steenson putting the icing on the cake with the conversion.

Exeter Chiefs: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten (Devoto 71), O'Flaherty; J Simmonds (c) (Steenson 77), Maunder; Hepburn (Moon 59), Cowan-Dickie (Yeandle 59), Williams (Francis 59); Gray, Hill (S Skinner 55); Ewers (Kirsten 61), Vermeulen, S Simmonds.

Saints: Furbank; Proctor, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Tuala (Naiyaravoro 68); Biggar, Taylor (Mitchell 52); Iyogun (Seville 71), Haywood (Fish 55), Franks (Hill 50); Ribbans, Ratuniyarawa (Isiekwe 52); Lawes, Ludlam (Moon 70), Harrison (c) (Adendorff 70).

Referee: Matthew Carley