Rigg and Roots sink depleted Saracens as Exeter finally bare their teeth

01/25/2025 02:41 PM

• Exeter 31-22 Saracens
• Saracens finish with 14 men after Wilson red card

The Premiership is about to go into hibernation for two months and Exeter badly needed a mood-enhancing win before the Six Nations pushes the club game into the background. They duly claimed a relieving victory against weakened opponents but only after a last quarter-surge from 15-10 down in a previously nervy, scrappy contest.

The final scoreboard will show a healthy bonus-point success, clinched by two tries inside three minutes from Tommy Wyatt and Ethan Roots but until that rat-a-tat late burst the result was in real doubt following a second try from the visitors' speedy right wing Tobias Elliott. A 71st-minute red card shown to Saracens lock Harry Wilson for a shoulder to the head of Rus Tuima, however, effectively sealed their fate and paved the way for a fifth Chiefs try for hooker Dan Frost.