EXETER v SARACENS: please post match related content here

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:20:19:42:39 by Darraghgirl.

Good preview. Feel the team will need all the support we can give them so cheering loud and proud at Sandy park will be obligatory.
My team prediction forthe chuffs game is:
1. Rhys 2. JG2 3. Marcus 4. Maro 5. Tiz 6. McFarland 7. Early 8. Big Tom 9. Bracks 10. Burke 11. Caluori 12. Hartley 13. Nick T 14. Tobias 15. Maxy 16. Theo D 17. Eroni 18. Clarey 19. Nick 20. Michelow 21. Wilson 22. Van Zyl 23. Fazza

I think against a hugely physical exeter side we'll need to come up trumps in the pack. Its currently set to be 20mph winds and raining so a close knit, physical bust up will probably be the order of the day. Harry wilson could make an enormous impact off the bench. Yes I know he hasn't played in a while and is off to exeter next year, but all the more reason for him to have a big final hoorah (or maybe not, if we win) for us
As ever, COYS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:03:14:47:59 by saracensfan62.

In our darkest hour, Tony Rowe dug the knife in deeper than anyone... he wanted us gone for good.

Sadly, every trip to Sandy Park since our return to the prem has been blighted by hatred from a very small number of locals. IMO stirred by Rowe's behaviour.

Nevertheless, our group will be loud & proud on Saturday, carrying ourselves in the right way & sincerely hoping that MM's last game won't end with him having to see Rowe's blood-shot face on the sidelines celebrating a win like he's just played

It is regrettable that there still exists in a small minority of our fans an attitude of never forget and never forgive. Those who have read the entire panel judgement know what was determined, and it does seem to have been an approach taken on his own by NW. Exe supporters have a pretty realistic view of Tony Rowe too, whilst acknowledging the debt the club owes to him.
I am looking forward to a blood and thunder ultra competitive contest, with of course a narrow Exeter win!
Let’s try and enjoy the game in the true spirit of rugby.

Karl Dickson to be the man with the whistle.

Quote:

Debenair
It is regrettable that there still exists in a small minority of our fans an attitude of never forget and never forgive. Those who have read the entire panel judgement know what was determined, and it does seem to have been an approach taken on his own by NW. Exe supporters have a pretty realistic view of Tony Rowe too, whilst acknowledging the debt the club owes to him.
I am looking forward to a blood and thunder ultra competitive contest, with of course a narrow Exeter win!
Let’s try and enjoy the game in the true spirit of rugby.

Out of interest why has this game not sold out? Surely it’s the hottest ticket in town? I’ve not been keeping up with what Chiefs are up to but is there discontent amongst the fans?

Quote:

smelly
Karl Dickson to be the man with the whistle.

Is there anyway to maybe delay or cancel the train he's on so he cant get to exeter?

Quote:

saracensfan62

Quote:

smelly
Karl Dickson to be the man with the whistle.

Is there anyway to maybe delay or cancel the train he's on so he cant get to exeter?

I suspect he’ll drive. When I was heading down to our game against Gloucester at Xmas I found myself standing next to him at the Waitrose in a motorway service station. He assured me he was only on the flag!

Quote:

The Bard

Quote:

saracensfan62

Quote:

smelly
Karl Dickson to be the man with the whistle.

Is there anyway to maybe delay or cancel the train he's on so he cant get to exeter?

I suspect he’ll drive. When I was heading down to our game against Gloucester at Xmas I found myself standing next to him at the Waitrose in a motorway service station. He assured me he was only on the flag!

Bang goes that theory

Quote:

SarriesSon
In our darkest hour, Tony Rowe dug the knife in deeper than anyone... he wanted us gone for good.
Sadly, every trip to Sandy Park since our return to the prem has been blighted by hatred from a very small number of locals. IMO stirred by Rowe's behaviour.

Nevertheless, our group will be loud & proud on Saturday, carrying ourselves in the right way & sincerely hoping that MM's last game won't end with him having to see Rowe's blood-shot face on the sidelines celebrating a win like he's just played

For my sins, I now live down in Devon (we are called 'Blow-ins), and I would suggest the "hatred" is from more than "a very small number of locals."

A year or two back, at a friend's drinks party, I met a young couple who moved down here (they were 'done' with London).
Most of the fellas down here are big into rugby and the conversation soon went that way.
I asked the fella if he followed a club.
He was very reluctant to admit to who he supported.
I pressed him on the matter and in a furtive manner and hush tones, he said yes, Saracens.
I welcomed him and he was more than surprised that he would not be the only Saracen in the village.

There is a real hatred of Saracens in these parts, which, win or lose, you will experience at Sandy Park.
Notwithstanding that, enjoy the day.

Finally, I take great delight in convincing the owner of my local to put a Fez on the stag's head in the main bar. The locals periodically remove it but I have a ready stock to keep the landlord well supplied.

I shall let you know if it is gone when I go there next Friday.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Shame to hear about hatred, that's not part of what rugby should be. I think highly of the club and what they have managed to achieve over the years (barring Toady Rowe, I do intensely dislike him and will take pleasure in seeing his face whenever Exeter lose).
I have never been to Sandy park (only stadium in the Premiership I've not been to) but am standing in the east terrace and will be cheering loud and proud in my fez. We've had exeter fans near us at the HQ for finals before and more recently at StoneX and we've only had positive experiences with their fans. I expect the same reception at Sandy Park that they would receive at our home ground.

They should really be thanking us, those defeats will have made the feeling of winning in 2020 even better 😉

Saracens Men to play Exeter Chiefs:

1 Eroni Mawi
2 Jamie George
3 Marcus Street
4 Maro Itoje (c)
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Theo McFarland
7 Ben Earl
8 Tom Willis
9 Charlie Bracken
10 Fergus Burke
11 Rotimi Segun
12 Olly Hartley
13 Nick Tompkins
14 Tobias Elliott
15 Max Malins

Replacements:

16 Theo Dan
17 Rhys Carre
18 Marco Riccioni
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Nathan Michelow
21 Ivan Van Zyl
22 Owen Farrell
23 Noah Caluori

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Olly Woodburn

14 Paul Brown-Bampoe

13 Henry Slade

12 Len Ikitau

11 Campbell Ridl

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Stephen Varney

1 Scott Sio

2 Max Norey

3 Josh Iosefa-Scott

4 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

5 Andrea Zambonin

6 Tom Hooper

7 Christ Tshiunza

8 Ethan Roots

Replacements:

16 Joseph Dweba

17 Ethan Burger

18 Bachuki Tchumbadze

19 Rusi Tuima

20 Kane James

21 Tom Cairns

22 Zack Wimbush

23 Ben Hammersley

Sad Noah won’t break the record for Tries in a season, hopefully next year he will

JMG that is probably our strongest 23 which is pretty remarkable at this stage of the season. Great to have Roti back in action.

Not much in it across the front 5. We should have an edge in the back row.

Ridl v Tobias could be a great battle.

Overall two very closely matched sides, but being at home gives Exeter the edge.

No Feyi-Waboso or Fisilau for Exeter is massive

Quote:

boomer!

Quote:

SarriesSon
In our darkest hour, Tony Rowe dug the knife in deeper than anyone... he wanted us gone for good.
Sadly, every trip to Sandy Park since our return to the prem has been blighted by hatred from a very small number of locals. IMO stirred by Rowe's behaviour.

Nevertheless, our group will be loud & proud on Saturday, carrying ourselves in the right way & sincerely hoping that MM's last game won't end with him having to see Rowe's blood-shot face on the sidelines celebrating a win like he's just played

For my sins, I now live down in Devon (we are called 'Blow-ins), and I would suggest the "hatred" is from more than "a very small number of locals."

A year or two back, at a friend's drinks party, I met a young couple who moved down here (they were 'done' with London).
Most of the fellas down here are big into rugby and the conversation soon went that way.
I asked the fella if he followed a club.
He was very reluctant to admit to who he supported.
I pressed him on the matter and in a furtive manner and hush tones, he said yes, Saracens.
I welcomed him and he was more than surprised that he would not be the only Saracen in the village.

There is a real hatred of Saracens in these parts, which, win or lose, you will experience at Sandy Park.
Notwithstanding that, enjoy the day.

Finally, I take great delight in convincing the owner of my local to put a Fez on the stag's head in the main bar. The locals periodically remove it but I have a ready stock to keep the landlord well supplied.

I shall let you know if it is gone when I go there next Friday.

I think hatred is way too strong. Most of the people I know don't feel anywhere near that level of animosity, certainly those that attend games.

The first game at Sandy Park following the salary cap stuff did have an unpleasant undertone, which I didn't like at all, since then though I think things have returned to normal. I certainly wouldn't expect you to receive a hostile welcome, the.same chat and humour any other clubs fans would get.

I do think the media has some responsibility for bigging up the rivalry. Constantly dragging up the salary cap issue. Times are different now with only a handful of players left over from those days. We are not the dominant forces we were back then and are relatively evenly matched.

It should be a tight game, the loss of Manny and Greg is big for us. Let's hope we are not talking about a certain ref at the end of the game. We've had a great season, in comparison to last year, I just hope the last memory of this season is not of you lot celebrating on our pitch!!!

If you are traveling down enjoy your trip

We all need to do a sun-dance to counter the rain-dances that will be breaking out over the West Country in anticipation of this game. Weather forecast suggests showers but has at times said heavy rain either of which suit Chiefs attritional, forward-based game.

Our team looks very good and its great to see Riccioni back and McFarland starting.
I feel Tigers could well have won v Chiefs if they'd taken their chances out wide but I was very impressed with Chiefs set-piece but our selections will hopefully give us parity at least.
I certainly hope we attack their lineout with the options we have there.

Pleased to see Segun back and Elliott retained. Caluori will get his chance when Farrell comes on.
Hope we don't take Willis off unless injured. Michelow has been decent but the gulf in what they offer even with Willis at 70% is massive.

Huge challenged both physically in terms of maintaining the "streak" till now but also mentally.
For me the past two games have been the results we needed but slight drop-offs from the earlier games so hopefully we really bring it. We will need Itoje, George and the other leaders at the top of their game.

I think we have the players and hopefully the plan to give us a great chance to win as long as we don't "feed the beast" by allowing Chiefs the majority of possession.

COYS

Quarter final rugby!

Guess I get a gold star for suggesting on the other thread Roti would replace Noah if fit. I hope he is fully fit but at least we’ve kept 3 backs on the bench.
No IFW is a massive, he really is so good. Their other wingers are no slouches either and will keep us fully occupied.
The pressure now on Exeter following their win last week, it’s their game to lose rather than ours.
It will need our best performance of the season to pull it off.

Tomorrow you come to sandy park and you are welcome in the west country, sport is sport and its not the fans that behaved in the manner . we attended your ground and it was a great day with your fans, I also met one of your fans with the new shirt on in cyprus on holiday 8 weeks ago we laughed and joked for about half a hour. The game will be close tomorrow and you would have to be brave to predict the result.But whatever happens I wish you all a safe journey and hope you have a pleasant day. I cant make the game due to a hernia op 3 days ago but i will be glued to itv4 and rooting on the chiefs who ever wins will face a daunting trip to the saints.

Or Bath, depending on the result of Bath v Tigers

Agreed about the positive for us in the lack of IFW although PBP is also quality, and Ridl has been so good this year - just like us a lot of back three depth. There's a reason those positions are not paid well!

I am very pleased to see that our game is live on ITV4 and as my cricket has also been called off because of the rain, I shall be sitting down in front of the TV and hopefully enjoying a thrilling game between two evenly matched sides but with Sarries obviously edging it.
Hope all the travellers have a safe and uneventful journey and I at times I get to hear “Sarries” on my TV!

Needed to take every opportunity and we haven’t.

Just needed to take that lineout…disastrous last few minutes of the half.

Lineout shocking...

A mountain to climb here...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:06:16:08:38 by Sarriebone.

That’s a horrible momentum shift
We’ve had around 6 visits to their 22 for only 5 points

I am thinking that the wind is worth a fair bit more than 3 points so I am still hopeful that we can arm wrestle this game away from Exeter during the 2nd half.
Whether my heart will stand it is another matter!

Quote:

MarkCol7
That’s a horrible momentum shift
We’ve had around 6 visits to their 22 for only 5 points

Both defences largely on top, feels like an old school prem tie.

Think we’ll see Farrell on quite early as goal kicking could be crucial

I cannot believe how biased the commentary is. I can actually

Quote:

Simitch
I cannot believe how biased the commentary is. I can actually

I have had to switch it off, losing like this is bad enough with out sycophantic commentary.

A totally calamitous 20 mins.

Ultimately though, they scored 3 tries when they were on top and we didn’t. That’s the difference

Quote:

Simitch
I cannot believe how biased the commentary is. I can actually

Alistair Ekyn has always absolutely detested Saracens

Particularly the snide comment about being serial abusers of the salary cap!

“Sorry I’m getting very excited here”. Impartial

Could Dickson be any more biased?

Shafted by the ref in the final match of the season two years in a row...

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Sarriebone
Shafted by the ref in the final match of the season two years in a row...

Come on. Dickson is a law unto himself but we managed to lose that fine without help from him.

Dickson didn’t particularly have a bad game
Fitness nowhere near good enough again
Centres completely outplayed

True, I don't think we would have won it, but it would have been a lot closer without Dickson. Calling a charge down a knock-on when done by Sarries, but not the other way round... funny that from a former Quin...

Every single mistake in their 22 leads to a Chiefs try. Our execution wasn’t good enough. But cannot stand the Toad’s look of triumph!

We lost that very well without Dickson.

1) not taking our chances in what I thought was a very good first 35 mins.
2) a poor second half punctuated with some questionable discipline.

Ultimately. We aren’t a top four side at the moment.

Time to move forward. I’m hopeful for what’s to come.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:06:17:12:01 by Stonexjim.

Congrats to Exeter, certainly the better team over the whole 80 minutes. Obviously there are frustrations here and there but given how absolutely rubbish we've been at times this year 5th seems fair enough. Some high highs and low lows.

Quote:

Nosher1979

Quote:

Simitch
I cannot believe how biased the commentary is. I can actually

I have had to switch it off, losing like this is bad enough with out sycophantic commentary.

No worries for me, followed it on BBC Sport with....(checks notes).........

John Lockyer - Former Exeter Chiefs captain - sample quote "They've done the double over Saracens. A brilliant season! " and
Nigel Walrond - BBC Radio Devon commentator.


Humbug

Quote:

nedrichards
Congrats to Exeter, certainly the better team over the whole 80 minutes. Obviously there are frustrations here and there but given how absolutely rubbish we've been at times this year 5th seems fair enough. Some high highs and low lows.

Agree with this completely.

Also, seeing as the coaches for some unknown reason stuck with certain players/combinations for most of the year, this team is only 5 games old.

I’m hopeful

Quote:

Kevetty
Particularly the snide comment about being serial abusers of the salary cap!

I was shouting at the TV at that one.

Quote:

Stonexjim
We lost that very well without Dickson.
1) not taking our chances in what I thought was a very good first 35 mins.
2) a poor second half punctuated with some questionable discipline.

Ultimately. We aren’t a top four side at the moment.

Time to move forward. I’m hopeful for what’s to come.

I think that is a fair summary of the match. When we were on top we squandered chances and Exeter outplayed us in the 2nd half helped by some very stupid penalties. Dickson did some typical Dickson things but he definitely wasn’t the difference. I think Ikatau and Slade completely dominated midfield and neither Bracken or Burke had their best game. Oh for an inside centre like Ikatau!
We move onto next year and we do have some exciting young talent to see develop.

Ikitau is class but lets not forget how good Hartley has been, plenty more to come from him.

Exeter were simply the better team, we just couldnt recover after the end to the first half. I was frustrated by Dickon’s reffing of the scrum where he seemed desperate not to award us a pen but it wouldnt have changed the game. We couldnt disrupt Exeter’s breakdown which was key, especially once they got over the shock of the initial 39 mins and started their phase play.

Sad its ended like this but in reality leaving ourselves with too much to do earlier in the season was the real problem. Hopefully a strong pre-season to come and we can start seeing this team get closer to its potential.

Always felt like not taking our chances in the first half would cone back to bite us but really frustrating that we didn't really make Exeter work for their scores.

- butchered line out. 2 poor pens and a front peel move
- not controlling the ruck and allowing a breakaway
- disrupt the line out only to give away a scrum pen, leading to pick and go
- break away after more poor handling

We controlled them quite well in the middle of the pitch but kept giving them field position with cheap penalties or sloppy handling.

I am a Roti fan boy, but he has to finish that chance in the 1st half.

On a positive note, thought Earl was excellent today. Tobias probably the pick of the backline.

Bracken, Hartley, Noah etc will be all the better for this experience

Definitely something to build on with the set of results in the last quarter of the season
The signings of Martin and Williams will make us a lot better next year

Quote:

Sarrov
On a positive note, thought Earl was excellent today. Tobias probably the pick of the backline.
Bracken, Hartley, Noah etc will be all the better for this experience

Agree about earl. Very good game. Carried some really hard yards and was our best player at a breakdown that chiefs largely dominated. I hope street going off at ht was injury related as I thought he had another very good 40 in the scrum. What a signing he’s been.

After a run of great games where I really thought they’d cracked it, I thought our centre pairing was way below par today. Back our early season 12/23 form.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:06:18:13:33 by Stonexjim.

In my opinion …when the fixtures were published it was always going to be “that game”. Alas it was written and the end was not what was wanted by Sarries fans nor indeed what Mark in particular deserved as a true Saracens legend.

Exeter though have dealt with their demons made tough changes inspired by Baxter, getting back to the roots of what made them successful.

Saracen’s decline has been slow and at times hard to fathom. Personally not sure Brendan is the answer but hopefully he will be the start to redefining who Sarries are on the pitch. I don’t know the answer but I renewed my season tickets - knowing the Club and Squad for 2026/27 will be focused on starting with a clean piece of paper. We have a far stronger squad and ethos than when we faced this position when Brendan first appeared at Sarries.

In defeat - I hope the past issues around Salary Cap is now buried and we can focus on the values of Rugby across the Premiership. In today’s game some of commentary was more suited to Westminster not the terraces of Rugby.

VICTORfez following sarries and bees since '76

We seemed a bit incapable of arresting the other side’s momentum all season. That certainly happened today. In that 20 mins after half time we were just blown away and there was nothing we could do about it.

It isn’t an experience thing.

Maybe we need to deploy the bench a bit better (rather than a prop sub at 43 mins, a couple more changes at 55 mins and Mitchelow on at 65 mins).

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Stonexjim

Quote:

Sarrov
On a positive note, thought Earl was excellent today. Tobias probably the pick of the backline.
Bracken, Hartley, Noah etc will be all the better for this experience

Agree about earl. Very good game. Carried some really hard yards and was our best player at a breakdown that chiefs largely dominated. I hope street going off at ht was injury related as I thought he had another very good 40 in the scrum. What a signing he’s been.

After a run of great games where I really thought they’d cracked it, I thought our centre pairing was way below par today. Back our early season 12/23 form.

I think, with the attack faltering somewhat the last three games, there is a case for Daly’s playing at 13. Saying that I’d really like us to bring Hall through next season. Tompkins has been much improved though, he’s third overall for turnovers in the prem and that is a brilliant skill to have. Also Cinti is around somewhere. We at least have plenty of options!

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TommyKentish

Quote:

Stonexjim

Quote:

Sarrov
On a positive note, thought Earl was excellent today. Tobias probably the pick of the backline.
Bracken, Hartley, Noah etc will be all the better for this experience

Agree about earl. Very good game. Carried some really hard yards and was our best player at a breakdown that chiefs largely dominated. I hope street going off at ht was injury related as I thought he had another very good 40 in the scrum. What a signing he’s been.

After a run of great games where I really thought they’d cracked it, I thought our centre pairing was way below par today. Back our early season 12/23 form.

I think, with the attack faltering somewhat the last three games, there is a case for Daly’s playing at 13. Saying that I’d really like us to bring Hall through next season. Tompkins has been much improved though, he’s third overall for turnovers in the prem and that is a brilliant skill to have. Also Cinti is around somewhere. We at least have plenty of options!

Agree with Daly at 13 and also trying Tobias at 15 for a quicker all round back 3

Quote:

#wolfpack1
We seemed a bit incapable of arresting the other side’s momentum all season. That certainly happened today. In that 20 mins after half time we were just blown away and there was nothing we could do about it.
It isn’t an experience thing.

Maybe we need to deploy the bench a bit better (rather than a prop sub at 43 mins, a couple more changes at 55 mins and Mitchelow on at 65 mins).

Agree RE the bench. Has been a bit by the numbers for a while now.

IMO today seemed like a perfect day to bring Faz in to 12 and sub one of the centres rather than Burke. We needed points and Burke was still our biggest running threat. Perhaps they didn't want him against Ikitau.

Also would have preferred moving Tobias to 15 when Noah came on. Max wasnt playing badly but would have provided more strike runner options and pace on the counter attack

Better team won on the day. We’ve had a better end of season than would have been expected. At least we have the women’s semi to look forward to next weekend

Well done Chiefs. They really grew into the game and were well deserved winners.

It felt like we were well in control for the majority of the first half but as in recent weeks we just didn't take the chances we created. Given the weather the plan was understandable and yet there was so much space out there to attack and we didn't really exploit that.

At the end of the day I think it was optimistic to expect a big response this week rather than a continuation of the diminishing returns of the last couple. To be fair to the team though that's exactly what they did for the first half but then it was almost as if they were punched out.
I'm not sure it is lack of fitness as much as the toll taken by the winning "streak" these past games.

I'm proud of how the team has played in the last third of the season. I hope we lean into that next season. We've shown that we the ability to string together both a decent phase attack and also individuals like Burke, Malins, etc who can create moments from very little.

The experience gained by the likes of Bracken, Hartley, Elliott, Caluori, Mitchelow etc this season will pay dividends next and the more time we give the attack and combinations to gel the more often I think we'll see chances sticking.

It's a shame this season is over so soon but I'm cautiously optimistic for the next.

I’d think about Tobias maybe at 13. He’s a good enough defender imo and would allow a back 3 of Bracken, Noah and Max.

It works for Saints (Freeman), it works for Bordeaux (Penaud).

Yes I think playing a “final” each week was gradually wearing the team down physically and mentally, proud that they even got us to the brink though.

@MarkCol7 agree on Tobias, I think that’s where he’ll end eventually- his pass for Isiekwe’s try showed he’s got the passing ability to go with a wide range of skills.

Quote:

DAOS
Better team won on the day. We’ve had a better end of season than would have been expected. At least we have the women’s semi to look forward to next weekend

+1
Hopefully they can put in a good win against a tricky Trailfinders team tomorrow. Need something to lift the spirits and they've done that all season.

It's good practice to rotate to a degree and with the back three options we have there's no need to start moving them about to new starting positions. Segun, Elliott, Caluori and J Bracken on the wing and Malins or Daly at FB gives us decent options whilst we use Hartley, Tompkins, Cinti and Hall at centre.

I saw the suggestion that Venter may rotate a bit more than we're used to so maybe we'll see combinations of those players regularly used together injury accepted.

It feels to me that the lack of games and the disjointed nature of the season makes it much harder to figure out your best side on the hoof. That was a real problem for us.

The top teams either came in to the season with a relatively settled 1st XV or, like Searle at Leicester, were pushed in the right direction through injury early in the season.

For the first time in a while our fans can probably name the "gun side" we would put out next season, injuries etc permitting (with 2 or 3 close selection calls).

I agree Sarrov.

What I still think is more difficult is working out how they’ll play. I think they’re still trying to play a structured pressure game which isn’t suited to the players we have. It was once, but it isn’t now.

My personal view is our best attacking players are our young quick wingers, Max and Fergus - and Max and Fergus are primarily counterattacking players.

It’s easy to say “oh look at Bordeaux” because they’re the best - but their attacking play is broadly unstructured: they get a turnover and they chuck it into space and keep the ball alive. Most of their tries come on first phase turnover ball. The number of breakdowns is incredibly low. I think that sort of approach would suit our players.

We don’t really have a high class dynamic centre (although Hartley has played well the last couple of weeks) and we don’t really have a second distributor. We should tailor our game accordingly.

Went to the game today so havent seen replays. In the ground it felt like we had control until half way through CB yellow card.

For info, Sandy Park wasnt nearly as sparky as the shed. One shout of C word during game. On way home, there was a very deliberate comment about it being great to beat "them" - I said, you'll never make it to the top of everest while staring back at basecamp .His mates laughed - tension over. I quite enjoyed the visit and will go back but stay over next time.

Some of the comments on Sarries social channel from Chiefs fans is horrific, and quite frankly disgusting.

Quote:

jimfitz12
Some of the comments on Sarries social channel from Chiefs fans is horrific, and quite frankly disgusting.

we are the millwall of rugby ‘everyone hates us we don’t care’ shoiuld be our mantra until the biased commentary is over.

come on you Sarries

No issue with any Exeter fans today, all very fair and friendly.
We defended well but lacked precision in attack, probably because they just edged the breakdown.
Lineout far better than theirs, but failed when it mattered.
Scrum mostly on top but Dickson reluctant to reward us.
One win in 8 matches against top 4 tells you all you need to know.

Quote:

The Bard
No issue with any Exeter fans today, all very fair and friendly.
We defended well but lacked precision in attack, probably because they just edged the breakdown.
Lineout far better than theirs, but failed when it mattered.
Scrum mostly on top but Dickson reluctant to reward us.
One win in 8 matches against top 4 tells you all you need to know.

Dickh**d bias at the scrum was so apparent!

Quote:

#wolfpack1
What I still think is more difficult is working out how they’ll play. I think they’re still trying to play a structured pressure game which isn’t suited to the players we have. It was once, but it isn’t now.
My personal view is our best attacking players are our young quick wingers, Max and Fergus - and Max and Fergus are primarily counterattacking players.

It’s easy to say “oh look at Bordeaux” because they’re the best - but their attacking play is broadly unstructured: they get a turnover and they chuck it into space and keep the ball alive. Most of their tries come on first phase turnover ball. The number of breakdowns is incredibly low. I think that sort of approach would suit our players

Agree with a lot of that.

It will be interesting to see how we play next season. Our recruitment suggests to me we will be even more heavily set piece orientated next season. A lean into even more structured attack would seem likely given that and who we have involved in our attack coaching but it could equally provide a better platform for a more unstructured attack if we are brave enough to move away from the familiar.

To play like UBB would be the dream but I think like Saints backs would be more realistic. They play with a lot of structure but all their backs and most of their forwards have the skills and awareness to switch to take advantage of a unstructured game. Everyone "playing what they see" is a route to chaos in my view but giving the likes of Burke and Malins that license and having the others alive to those opportunities would be a step in the right direction.
In the last few weeks especially we've seen some of our younger players not really switched on when running dummy lines, not holding their depth in attack and not looking for support when they have possession.
All of those things can improve and will make a big difference.

The biggest change for me in the backs is we have settled on a unit that is complementary.
We need to resists the temptation to revisit players who either won't or no longer can play the way that has gone well for us in the last third of the season. I have no interest in seeing players picked on reputation next season no matter what we're paying them.
The game has changed and we need to honour our past but not be slaves to it.

It has been mentioned already, but I am so proud of how the team has responded over the last couple of months. It shows that there is a team spirit and collective drive to improve, which is what was needed after a terrible middle part of the season.

Fair play to chiefs. They really stepped up in the second half and used home advantage to power home. The last few weeks caught up with us for sure, especially as we have largely used the same 23-26 players during our run. They looked out on their feet when the pace went up. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but maybe right on half-time the smart thing to do was to go for goal instead? Understandable due to the weather and Faz not being on. Never mind.

I am feeling very positive about next season. We have recruited well I think and at the same time allowed enough space for the youngsters to grow and be given game time. All the noise coming from the club seems to be that they are excited about whats to come and the talent emerging. Hopefully the good doctor can steer the ship in right direction using that talent. If Chiefs can do it, I can see no reason why we can't.

I do howver feel that there are two areas that really concern me looking at the team going forward. The first is centre. I love Nick and Olly. I think they have been incredible over their time at the club. Big fan of Nicks tenacity and work rate. Same for Olly and his physicality and effort. Great solid club players. My issue is that extra 5-10%. Whether that be pace, passing ability, composure, vision, its just that last layer that is missing. I feel having that world class player at 12 or 13 to knit everything together would really take us to the next level. I have always been a fan of Daly at 13 and I would be interested to see him and Olly as a partnership. ED has got that ability to find his man in the wide channels and also spot a gap. Thats not to say there isn't a place for Nick through the season. Those dark winter evenings up north where a gritty team effort takes you home spring to mind. Us just feel this last game against the chiefs has shown how vital a class operator at centre can be.

The second area that concerns me is at 6. Theo has been unbelievable there recently. He offers something no other 6 in the league can do with ball playing ability and agility in the lineout. This is great in the fine weather and when the team is on top. However, today I witnessed Hooper absolutely school us in how a 6 should play in a knockout game. He was a pain in the bum. Disrupting every breakdown and every maul. A proper gritty effort. We need that sort of dog in the team. Someone to roll their sleeves up and be a bloody pest. Maro has done this years from the row, and JMG has his moments too when he has played. But I look around the league and I always see that sort of player line up against us. Someone who I think will be a pain for us all game. Pollock, Hill, Pepper, Evans, Kenningham, Curry brothers. I am not sure the oppo look at us the same way. They might look and think we have unbelievable ball players and classy operators, but not someone who can disrupt.

But hey, no team is perfect!

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Alexkid79
It has been mentioned already, but I am so proud of how the team has responded over the last couple of months. It shows that there is a team spirit and collective drive to improve, which is what was needed after a terrible middle part of the season.
Fair play to chiefs. They really stepped up in the second half and used home advantage to power home. The last few weeks caught up with us for sure, especially as we have largely used the same 23-26 players during our run. They looked out on their feet when the pace went up. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but maybe right on half-time the smart thing to do was to go for goal instead? Understandable due to the weather and Faz not being on. Never mind.

I am feeling very positive about next season. We have recruited well I think and at the same time allowed enough space for the youngsters to grow and be given game time. All the noise coming from the club seems to be that they are excited about whats to come and the talent emerging. Hopefully the good doctor can steer the ship in right direction using that talent. If Chiefs can do it, I can see no reason why we can't.

I do howver feel that there are two areas that really concern me looking at the team going forward. The first is centre. I love Nick and Olly. I think they have been incredible over their time at the club. Big fan of Nicks tenacity and work rate. Same for Olly and his physicality and effort. Great solid club players. My issue is that extra 5-10%. Whether that be pace, passing ability, composure, vision, its just that last layer that is missing. I feel having that world class player at 12 or 13 to knit everything together would really take us to the next level. I have always been a fan of Daly at 13 and I would be interested to see him and Olly as a partnership. ED has got that ability to find his man in the wide channels and also spot a gap. Thats not to say there isn't a place for Nick through the season. Those dark winter evenings up north where a gritty team effort takes you home spring to mind. Us just feel this last game against the chiefs has shown how vital a class operator at centre can be.

The second area that concerns me is at 6. Theo has been unbelievable there recently. He offers something no other 6 in the league can do with ball playing ability and agility in the lineout. This is great in the fine weather and when the team is on top. However, today I witnessed Hooper absolutely school us in how a 6 should play in a knockout game. He was a pain in the bum. Disrupting every breakdown and every maul. A proper gritty effort. We need that sort of dog in the team. Someone to roll their sleeves up and be a bloody pest. Maro has done this years from the row, and JMG has his moments too when he has played. But I look around the league and I always see that sort of player line up against us. Someone who I think will be a pain for us all game. Pollock, Hill, Pepper, Evans, Kenningham, Curry brothers. I am not sure the oppo look at us the same way. They might look and think we have unbelievable ball players and classy operators, but not someone who can disrupt.

But hey, no team is perfect!

Agree with a lot of this and am likewise positive for next year.

Agree about the centres. I’m a big fan of Olly Hartley and he has been superb in the last few weeks. But I’m just not sure that he’s it. Likewise don’t quite know what it is but I’m just not sure him and a Tompkins on the slide is going to get us back to where we want to be. The both of them are fine but I find myself wanting a little more. For me-I’m afraid Daly is absolutely not the answer. Daly plays the 23 role next season. Find his re-signing barmy but that’s another issue.

Re the 6 shirt- Theo has been good there recently but I’m not sure I’d go as far as to describe him unbelievable. What’s was a little disappointing about Theo is that this seemed to coincide with his move to 360 falling through last year and him having to play for a contract. For me, Jmg is a fantastic 6 that absolutely doesn’t need replacing. On his day is more than a match for pollock, curry and the like.

I actually think we’ve recruited very astutely for next year. It’s the way of playing we need to change.

I think give Hartley some time to grow into the shirt. He’s really not had that many matches for us but in the last few he’s outplayed all of his opposition (not to mention the win v Toulouse) until coming up against one of the best 12s in the world. I’m sure he’ll learn a lot and come back stronger.

I am not saying that Olly can't come good. He has all the potential in the world. I just feel like the difference yesterday was stark. Two international centres made the difference yesterday, along with a pest at the breakdown. We don't have either at the moment really. JMG is incredible. In the loose there are few better. I just feel we lack a bit of dog at times. Burger. Kelly Brown. Rhodes. Nasty so and so's who make the oppositions life a misery.

Hopefully that’s where Martin makes a difference. Also Venter seems like he would want that from his team too. My general feeling about the pack next season is that it will be mouth more blunt force and setting up a platform for our backline- more Bath than Saints to use a clumsy analogy.

Quote:

Alexkid79
I am not saying that Olly can't come good. He has all the potential in the world. I just feel like the difference yesterday was stark. Two international centres made the difference yesterday, along with a pest at the breakdown. We don't have either at the moment really. JMG is incredible. In the loose there are few better. I just feel we lack a bit of dog at times. Burger. Kelly Brown. Rhodes. Nasty so and so's who make the oppositions life a misery.

I dont think any individuals in particular made the difference yesterday. Exeter didn't exactly play outstanding rugby, they just took their chances when we didn't and showed more discipline in defence.

I get what you are saying RE Hartley, but it is no surprise a 50 cap international is a better player than one who barely has 50 top flight games total.

At 13 we have Cinti and Hall in reserve. Hopefully we can get more out of the former and the latter develops to be the player we all think he can be.

Earl is a pest at the breakdown but got no change from Dickson. Hooper is fantastic, but he got away with far more than Earl imo, sometimes the ref doesn't see things your way

Agree on the lack of dog, but that is why Martin has been signed.

Quote:

nicsue

Quote:

Kevetty
Particularly the snide comment about being serial abusers of the salary cap!

I was shouting at the TV at that one.

But you were. Live with that fact.

I agree with TommyKentish about Hartley. I think he'll continue to improve and has shown up brilliantly against other quality centres. It's also about how you use players and I we didn't use him terribly well yesterday in comparrison to earlier games where we used his distribution as well as direct running.

Adding a top quality 12 would be great. Ikitau is apparently on £400K? at Chiefs. We're going to be spending a 10th of the cap plus on two players who should arguably only be seen at 22 and 23 next season.
I get what you're saying about having that top quality now but it seems we've made the choice to back the past and the future. Hopefully it works out as we've committed to it for the next two seasons.

Quote:

Stonexjim
I actually think we’ve recruited very astutely for next year. It’s the way of playing we need to change

We have had the squad to play the style we played most recently for two seasons in which time our failure to make Top4 is an indictment of the coaching staffs inability to move on from an outmoded game plan.
Next season we will have to play differently as we'll be losing a fair bit of mobility in our pack given who the likely starters will be. That could well be a great thing as we will up our physicality and maybe that will give us he platform to fully back our attack.

Tbh yesterday was almost a total reversion to the way we played before this run of games. It is genuinely bewildering.

We fed a possession based team ball by kicking to them, poorly, even when we were against the wind in the first half. We slowed our own ball consistently to set up box kicks taking the pace out of the game and allowing them plenty of rest. We stripped our limited attacking play back to direct carries down the middle and on the occasions we got some quality ball in their half we kicked speculatively away from 9 and 13.
Ofc we needed a plan that suited some no doubt tired Sarries bodies but this plan hasn't worked consistently for three seasons. Why do we keep reverting to it and forgoing the variation and to a degree subtlety in attack that we have shown we can produce in more recent games and at times over the past few seasons.

Honestly if we had chosen a plan to suit Chiefs and not ourselves yesterday we could have done little better.
It's infuriating.

Neither side really made any progress through phase play. 4 Exeter tries with about 1 phase between them. It was hard to tell whether the slope or the wind would prove to be the Top Trump, think the slope edged it.
Our early kicking was largely down to being stuck at the top of the pitch.

Quote:

St. Tim

Quote:

nicsue

Quote:

Kevetty
Particularly the snide comment about being serial abusers of the salary cap!

I was shouting at the TV at that one.

But you were. Live with that fact.

If only you would read what actually happened.

Quote:

jimfitz12
Some of the comments on Sarries social channel from Chiefs fans is horrific, and quite frankly disgusting.

As I said previously on this thread.

The Chiefs hate Saracens. Their hatred is based on ill-informed narrative but when deceit fits a narrative the narrative wins.

Saracens could play Vlad The Impaler's Selects XV in a cup final and the neutrals would support Vlad.

I live in Devon, I can't wear any Saracens merch down here as it just draws unsolicited snide comments; , it is strictly for the North London/Herts borders.

My friends down here invited me to the game on Saturday, I can take ribbing from them (as I did after the game on outr WhatsApp group) but I don't go to Sandy Park now. I will not give them the benefit of my hard earned cash for the privilege of being abused.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Quote:

PaulHerox
I agree with TommyKentish about Hartley. I think he'll continue to improve and has shown up brilliantly against other quality centres. It's also about how you use players and I we didn't use him terribly well yesterday in comparrison to earlier games where we used his distribution as well as direct running.
Adding a top quality 12 would be great. Ikitau is apparently on £400K? at Chiefs. We're going to be spending a 10th of the cap plus on two players who should arguably only be seen at 22 and 23 next season.
I get what you're saying about having that top quality now but it seems we've made the choice to back the past and the future. Hopefully it works out as we've committed to it for the next two seasons.

Quote:

Stonexjim
I actually think we’ve recruited very astutely for next year. It’s the way of playing we need to change

We have had the squad to play the style we played most recently for two seasons in which time our failure to make Top4 is an indictment of the coaching staffs inability to move on from an outmoded game plan.
Next season we will have to play differently as we'll be losing a fair bit of mobility in our pack given who the likely starters will be. That could well be a great thing as we will up our physicality and maybe that will give us he platform to fully back our attack.

Tbh yesterday was almost a total reversion to the way we played before this run of games. It is genuinely bewildering.

We fed a possession based team ball by kicking to them, poorly, even when we were against the wind in the first half. We slowed our own ball consistently to set up box kicks taking the pace out of the game and allowing them plenty of rest. We stripped our limited attacking play back to direct carries down the middle and on the occasions we got some quality ball in their half we kicked speculatively away from 9 and 13.
Ofc we needed a plan that suited some no doubt tired Sarries bodies but this plan hasn't worked consistently for three seasons. Why do we keep reverting to it and forgoing the variation and to a degree subtlety in attack that we have shown we can produce in more recent games and at times over the past few seasons.

Honestly if we had chosen a plan to suit Chiefs and not ourselves yesterday we could have done little better.
It's infuriating.

Definitely agree on the change you’ve mentioned next season. If anything it might simplify our game plan and make it easier to execute.

Re the game plan on Saturday. I think the kicking and defence largely worked well for 39 mins. We really should’ve scored more which agreed is an issue with the attack and while we have stuttered in recent weeks I think we should pay due deference to chiefs having the best defence in the league. Up until the nightmare few minutes at the end of the half Exeter were looking nervous and despite the wind it felt like we had the vast majority of territory. If not for a sensational try saver by Slade then we go in to the sheds with pretty much the perfect away half in a knockout game. Of course it didn’t and an lineout misfunction began the downfall.

Unfortunately then it is very hard to stop the tide once it turns in hugely emotional matches like this. I thought maybe a very brave call would’ve been to sub on IVZ at 9 during Bracken’s yellow but that is Monday morning hindsight at its finest. Simply put, once that try went over before half time our tactics went out the window as Chiefs suddenly had the wind in their sales and the confidence to really implement their possession game which was largely absent in the first half.

One thing that Venter has to sort out is the alarming tendency to fall apart when things don’t go our way. This week and multiple other occasions throughout the season.

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TommyKentish

One thing that Venter has to sort out is the alarming tendency to fall apart when things don’t go our way. This week and multiple other occasions throughout the season.

Yes.

As per my comment above we cannot arrest the oppositions momentum when things are going wrong. We hear a lot about the benefit of experience in the squad … they haven’t been able to affect this at all.

I think we need to be far more judicious in use of subs rather than subbing by numbers (as someone rightly put it above) and also identify a strategy where we can Take Back Control (to coin a phrase) when things start going wrong.

A very disappointing result for us. Attack not clinical enough (we squandered 3 enormous chances that on any other day, we would've scored), defence leaky at times and fitness lacking.

Congratulations must go to Exeter, they were by far the superior team on the day and deserving winners. Good luck to the chiefs vs Bath. Will be a cracking game for the neutral.
The atmosphere at Sandy park was buzzing and was good to cheer the lads loud and proud, even at full time. They came over and thanked us for loud support.

This did not impact the end result of the game IMO, but Karl Dickson was atrocious. His anti-saracens bias is so clear it's actually funny. SO many offsides from exeter.. missed. Scrum penalties going the wrong way, Exeter coming in at the side constantly... not punished. I feel the club has every right to issue a formal complaint about that refereeing performance on Saturday. This isn't just a one-off every 50/50 goes against us when he officiates. Personally I am sick of him and his shoddy standard of officiating ruining what would otherwise be entertaining and competitive games.

[quote TommyKentish]I think the kicking and defence largely worked well for 39 mins. We really should’ve scored more which agreed is an issue with the attack and while we have stuttered in recent weeks I think we should pay due deference to chiefs having the best defence in the league.[Quote]
We made it very easy to defend when we had possession. The attack reverting to an incredibly basic structure.
There were certainly opportunities that we should have finished but even so it just felt an odd call to give them so much possession rather than pressure them with our attack.
Quins, Bears and even Tigers showed Chiefs vulnerability out wide and we spent most of the game trying to crash it through the middle.
Our defence in the first half, 30 especially, was quality and our set piece was generally very good. Even though the lineout had wobbles that was under pressure from Zambonin and we cause them far more issues. We actually had a really good platform for attacking but chose not to use it.

[quote TommyKentish]I thought maybe a very brave call would’ve been to sub on IVZ at 9 during Bracken’s yellow but that is Monday morning hindsight at its finest.[Quote]
Do you mean to keep a 9 on the field at the expense of another player? That might have been a good idea.
For Bracken shouldn't have returned after the card. He struggled last week and really should have been hooked on 40 then. He had decent ball most of the game and made some very poor decisions.
He's young and it's all part of the learning process and he's been very good this season so one you have to shake off.

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Stonexjim
Ultimately. We aren’t a top four side at the moment.

We haven't been all season.

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Stonexjim
Time to move forward. I’m hopeful for what’s to come.

hopeful but realistic here. BV has a lot to do in (allegedly) one season.

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The Bard
Neither side really made any progress through phase play. 4 Exeter tries with about 1 phase between them. It was hard to tell whether the slope or the wind would prove to be the Top Trump, think the slope edged it.
Our early kicking was largely down to being stuck at the top of the pitch.

SLOPE!! There's no slope at Sandy Park!!😂😂

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Chief Bert

Quote:

The Bard
Neither side really made any progress through phase play. 4 Exeter tries with about 1 phase between them. It was hard to tell whether the slope or the wind would prove to be the Top Trump, think the slope edged it.
Our early kicking was largely down to being stuck at the top of the pitch.

SLOPE!! There's no slope at Sandy Park!!😂😂

Thanks for your insightful input