RugbyRebels

Starting XV:

15. Luke James, 14. Tom O’Flaherty, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Alex Wills, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre (100), 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ernst van Rhyn ©, 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Dan du Preez.

Replacements:

16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19, Tom Burrow, 20. Hyron Andrews, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Regan Grace.

Exeter Chiefs:

15 Josh Hodge

14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

13 Henry Slade

12 Len Ikitau

11 Olly Woodburn

10 Harvey Skinner

9 Charlie Chapman


1 Will Goodrick-Clarke

2 Joseph Dweba

3 Josh Iosefa-Scott

4 Dafydd Jenkins (c)

5 Andrea Zambonin

6 Tom Hooper

7 Ethan Roots

8 Greg Fisilau


Replacements:

16 Jack Yeandle

17 Scott Sio

18 Bachuki Tchumbadze

19 Lewis Pearson

20 Kane James

21 Tom Cairns

22 Will Haydon-Wood

23 Ben Hammersley

Fantastic comeback win for exe.

I've only seen the BBC score for this. Did Sale take their foot off the gas and sub Ford only to see Exeter finish strong and win?

FKAS wrote: ↑Sat Nov 29, 2025 7:06 am I've only seen the BBC score for this. Did Sale take their foot off the gas and sub Ford only to see Exeter finish strong and win?

Yep, completely switched off and Chiefs were on a purple patch. You can't do that against them this season, the backs are lethal and their pack seems to have found some mojo again.

Yep, ford coming off was key but exe still had to get back in it, which they wouldn't have done last season.

It needs to be re iterated that exe's starting 10 doesn't even make the england saxon's squad. Imagine what they could do with a proper upgrade. I hope varney isn't out for long as well.

Exeter kept conceding stupid penalties yet stayed in the fight despite being 21 points down. They are a curious mix of good and bad. The forwards were competitive throughout and Jenkins was exceptional. His turnovers (5 or 6?) provided the edge at vital times.

Ford was not at his best, arguably, but his hands were the best on the pitch by a margin. He had a few sensationally accurate kicks to touch but most of his speculative stuff was ineffective. Du Preez stepped across to 10 with no drop in standard when Ford went off. Exeter just scrapped more convincingly than Sale once the momentum of the game went their way. They deserved the win.

Good with for Exe, though their continued refusal to give young players game time baffles me. Why Hammersley over Lilley time and time again and another game for Kane James to gather splinters for 80 minutes!