Match Report: Saracens 29 – 14 Exeter Chiefs

A frustrating day where the little moments proved to be the crucial areas of the encounter, it was Mark McCall’s Saracens who came away with the bonus point win against Rob Baxter’s Exeter Chiefs.

Set pieces were integral to the opening 20 minutes and proved to be the catalyst for the afternoon’s opening points for the hosts. A lineout on the Chiefs’ five metre line resulted in a Saracens maul drive with Jamie George safely shepherding the ball over the line.

Fergus Burke wasn’t as lucky with his conversion attempt, however, which rebounded off the left upright.

There was a fantastic opportunity for Chiefs just minutes later when Will Haydon-Wood got underneath the box kick put up by his half-back partner and broke into the Saracens 22. However, after a couple of recycles, the Chiefs were penalised on the line for not releasing at the ruck.

Saracens got their second before Chiefs could return to the 22 when Tobias Elliott took a pass on the edge and dispatched the remaining Chiefs defender Josh Hodge who could only get fingertips to the Saracens men before he ran in the try. Alex Lozowski then converted the score to take his side into double digits.

A third try went the way of the hosts as a half hour ticked by. In a replica of their first, albeit this time on the far side of the field, Ben Earl was the man in charge of the ball as the maul rumbled over the whitewash. Lozowski added the extras.

Hodge managed to get Chiefs on the board before the half was out. A great read of the ball from Olly Woodburn saw the Exeter man charge through the Saracens line to collect ball at pace. He had his fullback on his shoulder for the offload.

There was still work to be done as Hodge had to break a tackle attempt on the line to ground the ball beneath the posts before converting his own score.

The comeback was made a little harder for Chiefs however when Saracens broke down the far wing with options aplenty. The ball ultimately found Fergus Burke who scored the try but was unable to have his attempt converted as the half ended with the hosts already having secured a bonus point.

Half-time: Saracens 24 – 7 Chiefs

It was a frustrating start to the second half for the Exeter men when just one minute into the restart, Ben Hammersley was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Andy Onyeama-Christie. Almost instantly, Earl was storming down the wing for his second score of the day, making the most of the man advantage.

Hodge got Chiefs’ second after a contentious 22 minutes of second half action where, following the Saracens try, both sides struggled to hold onto position.

Harvey Skinner found a cheeky pass to Woodburn who managed to get ball out the back door to Hammersley. The winger in turn batted the ball out to Hodge for the run-in which he then converted for himself.

And those would prove to be the last points of the day as both sides struggled to execute outside of the middle third of the field. However, hosts Saracens were not to be disheartened as the try bonus was already theirs and now so too was the win to put them three from three to start the 2024/25 season.

Full-time: Saracens 29 – 14 Chiefs

Saracens: E Daly; T Elliott (Goode 66’), A Lozowski, N Tompkins, R Segun; F Burke, I Van Zyl (c) (Bracken 71’); R Carre (Mawi 51’), J George (Dan 51’), M Riccioni (Hoskins 67’), N Isiekwe, H Tizard, T McFarland (Onyeama-Christie 11’), B Earl (Knight 66’), T Willis (Gonzalez 70’).

Tries: George, Elliott, Earl 2, Burke Conversions: Lozowski 2

Chiefs: J Hodge; I Feyi-Waboso, O Woodburn, J Hawkins (Rigg 67’), B Hammersley; W Haydon-Wood (Skinner 54’), S Maunder (Cairns 54’); W Goodrick-Clarke (Blose 48’), J Yeandle (c) (Innard 48’), M Street (Iosefa-Scott 48’), J Dunne, C Tshiunza (Tuima 54’), E Roots (Moloney 56’), R Capstick, G Fisilau.

Tries: Hodge 2 Conversions: Hodge 2

Yellow card: Ben Hammersley

Referee: Karl Dickson