Baxter’s boys reach first semi-final in style

EXETER brushed aside a battling Northampton side to book their first Champions Cup semi-final place.

Jack Maunder and Jacques Vermeulen’s tries gave Chiefs the lead but Northampton were within four at the break after Teimana Harrison scored.

Jack Nowell’s try two minutes after the restart and Jonny Hill’s score gave Exeter breathing space. Fraser Dingwall touched down for Saints but flanker Vermeulen capped Exeter’s win with a turn of pace for his second try.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “We struggled with the consistency that we usually have. Northampton broke up elements of our game around the set piece and the middle third of the field so great credit to them.

“But our players have come through a difficult scenario where they are heavy favourites to go to the semi-final and had everything to lose.”

Injury-hit Saints began well before a scrum against the head produced the first try after a quarter of an hour. Centre Henry Slade punched through the midfield and fed scrum-half Maunder to score.

Vermeulen burrowed over from close range nine minutes later but Saints captain Teimana Harrison bundled over at the back of a rolling maul to stem the tide and Saints went close to taking the lead when scrum-half Henry Taylor was stopped just short.

Nowell got past George Furbank to extend the lead before Hill’s short-range effort put Chiefs clear.

Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd said: “I can’t fault the effort. But we had to work too hard to get our points and they didn’t have to work hard enough to get theirs. We just had too much accumulation of errors and gave them their points a little too easily.”

Prop Manny Iyogun impressed on just his second start for Saints amid their front row injury crisis. He played 72 minutes before being replaced by Alex Saville, who had only joined the club on loan from Gloucester on Thursday.

Boyd added: “Manny is a great kid and surviving out there for 70-odd minutes was remarkable considering last week was really his first men’s scrum. He handled himself very well.”