Preview: Northampton Saints vs Exeter Chiefs - prediction, team news, lineups

Northampton Saints meet Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the final of this season's Premiership Rugby campaign.

In the playoff semi-final, the Saints edged past Leicester Tigers 45-31 at Franklin's Gardens, while the Chiefs claimed a monumental 27-26 win over West-Country rivals Bath.

Match preview

Finishing atop the Premiership Rugby table with 74 points after 18 matches, Northampton set up a playoff semi-final with Leicester Tigers at Franklin’s Gardens last Friday evening.

Despite leading for the vast majority of the 80 minutes, the Saints failed to pull away from Geoff Parling's men, but ultimately still came out on top, winning 45-31 and booking their spot at Twickenham for the second time in the previous three seasons.

Facing an Exeter outfit that conceded the fewest points in the Premiership this season, Phil Dowson will be hoping that his side can show their attacking prowess once again in the capital this weekend, after scoring more than 30 points in eight of their previous nine fixtures.

However, although they have been strong going forward, the Saints have let their defensive stability slip in recent months, conceding at least four tries in each of their previous nine games too.

Having beaten Saturday's opponents 35-28 when these sides met at Sandy Park just two months ago though, Northampton will undoubtedly be confident that they can claim victory over the Chiefs once again and win their third Premiership crown.

After earning a third place Premiership finish on the final day of the regular season, Exeter Chiefs set up a semi-final tie with Bath at the Recreational Stadium that will go down as one of the great playoff ties.

The Blue, Black and Whites came out of the gates hot, scoring four first-half tries to take a comfortable 16-point lead into the break and putting a second consecutive final firmly into their sights.

However, a galvanised Chiefs side mounted a comeback for the ages in the second 40, scoring 17 unanswered points and holding up the ball on their own try line in the last play to book their place in the final for the first time in five years.

Winning away from home, Rob Baxter’s men also became the first side since Harlequins in 2021 to win on the road in a playoff semi-final, a feat that has also happened on only seven occasions since the format was first used in the 2002-03 campaign.

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Chiefs are undoubtedly the underdogs, though they have only lost one of the previous four matches against Northampton and were the only Premiership team to prevent the Saints from claiming victory at Franklin’s Gardens this season, drawing 33-33 on the opening weekend.

Northampton Saints Premiership Rugby form:

Exeter Chiefs Premiership Rugby form:

Exeter Chiefs form (all competitions):

Team News

Northampton have made just one change to the squad that faced Leicester last Friday as Jonny Weimann misses out for the returning Alex Mitchell, who has been sidelined for over a month with a hamstring injury.

In place of Mitchell, Archie McParland has done an excellent job at scrum-half and notches up his 50th Saints appearance this weekend.

Following on from impressive performances against the Tigers, Dowson's lineup once more includes the likes of Henry Pollock, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank, who plays his final Northampton game on Saturday before heading to Harlequins in the summer.

As for Exeter, they welcome back a superstar of their own in the form of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who has missed the previous two matches after requiring surgery on his jaw last month.

At the expense of the injured Paul Brown-Bampoe, the 23-year-old comes straight back into the starting 15 and is one of two changes to the Chiefs lineup alongside Ethan Roots, who returns following a head knock suffered against Saracens a fortnight ago.

Having scored 191 Premiership points this season, the most of any player in the division and 45 more than next best Fin Smith, Henry Slade is Baxter's danger man and has been imperious in big games for Exeter during this campaign.

Northampton Saints starting lineup:

15 Furbank, 14 Freeman, 13 Litchfield, 12 Hutchinson, 11 Hendy, 10 Smith, 9 McParland; 1 Iyogun, 2 Langdon, 3 Millar Mills, 4 Coles, 5 Prowse, 6 Kemeny, 7 Pearson, 8 Pollock

Replacements:

16 Wright, 17 Fischetti, 18 Green, 19 van der Mescht, 20 Lockett, 21 Chick, 22 Mitchell, 23 Dingwall

Exeter Chiefs starting lineup:

15 Woodburn, 14 Feyi-Waboso, 13 Slade, 12 Ikitau, 11 Ridl, 10 Skinner, 9 Varney, 1 Sio, 2 Norey, 3 Iosefa-Scott, 4 Jenkins, 5 Zambonin, 6 Hooper, 7 Roots, 8 Fisilau

Replacements:

16 Dweba, 17 Burger, 18 Tchumbadze, 19 Tshiunza, 20 Vincent, 21 James, 22 Cairns, 23 Haydon-Wood

We say: Northampton Saints 24-22 Exeter Chiefs

With both sides in electric form and out to win their third Premiership title, Saturday's contest is bound to be one that lives long in the memory.

With neither team likely to blow away their opposition, it is set up to be a closely fought battle that we are certain will come right down to the wire.

However, after a ruthless campaign in which they have definitely been the league's strongest side over 18 games, we are edging towards Saints getting the job done this weekend, bouncing back in style from their disappointing 2024-25 campaign.