The Prem
Northampton Saints (33) 33
Tries: Coles, Pearson, Todaro 2, Litchfield Cons: Belleau 4
Exeter Chiefs (7) 33
Tries: Feyi-Waboso 2, Brown-Bampoe, Vintcent 2 Cons: Slade 4
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso marked his Exeter Chiefs return with two tries as his side staged an astonishing comeback draw at Northampton Saints.
The England winger had been out of club rugby since December with a shoulder problem and scored just four minutes into their Prem season opener at Franklin’s Gardens.
Despite the early blip, Saints seemed to have wrapped up the win by half-time as debutant Edoardo Todaro scored two tries and Alex Coles, Tom Pearson and Tom Litchfield also went over in a devastating spell of attacking rugby.
Exeter stormed back with four unanswered tries in the second half as Ross Vintcent added two to scores from Paul Brown-Bampoe and Feyi-Waboso’s second, which came as he hobbled over the line. Chiefs boss Rob Baxter confirmed after the game that it was cramp rather than a muscle injury.
With home optimism high for a successful new campaign following their exploits in reaching the European Champions Cup final last season, Franklin’s Gardens was packed out to see a Saints side boasting three exciting debutants in Todaro, Anthony Belleau and giant South African lock JJ Van Der Mescht.
But France international Belleau got off to a poor start, his attempted short kick-off failing to make 10 metres, and Saints were caught napping as Feyi-Waboso picked up from a ruck, ducked under a tackle and raced over the line to silence the home crowd.
Northampton were not behind for long as Saints turned on the style with five tries in 22 minutes, sparked by Coles crashing over from short range.
Pearson finished another flowing move wide on the left before 19-year-old Todaro marked a dream debut by scoring Saints’ third after an outrageous reverse pass from James Ramm.
Litchfield benefited from a delicious Fraser Dingwall short pass and then Todaro had his second try as Saints threatened to run away from the reeling Chiefs.
Exeter somehow dredged some belief into the second half, and as Northampton eased off on the accelerator, clawed their way back into the game.
Brown-Bampoe, who scored 21 tries last season, got his first of this campaign, but even when excellent aerial work from Feyi-Waboso teed up Vintcent’s first try, it seemed like a couple of consolations.
Saints’ sleepiness was exposed however as Jack Yeandle’s low, sharp throw from a line-out sent Vintcent over for another and suddenly Rob Baxter’s side were within striking distance.
Filled with belief, Exeter produced some thrilling rugby of their own, and when Stephen Varney looped a reverse pass which could be judged to be either inspired or wild, Chiefs worked the ball wide right and Feyi-Waboso managed to limp over the line.
With the scores level Saints roused themselves but even when Josh Hodge received a 20-minute red card for head-to-head contact in a tackle on Sam Graham as the back rower was set to score, Chiefs held on for a share of the points.
Chiefs thought they had snatched an incredible late win when Henry Slade went over, only for the video referee to spot an unnecessary forward pass from Brown-Bampoe in the build-up.
‘Game should have been out of sight’ – Saints reaction
Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton:
“It’s hugely disappointing and very frustrating that we’ve given up a 33-7 half-time lead to draw a game that should have been out of sight.
“[In the second half] We didn’t value the ball, we didn’t look after the ball for any sort of time, we kept giving them field position and possession, and in this league you’re going to get punished, and we were punished time and again.
“Once we lost our momentum we seemed to be incapable of wrestling it back.
“There was some really good attacking there and some pretty average defence [from both teams] but fundamentally we didn’t get beyond three phases in the second half.
“Very sloppy with the ball, not doing the things we’d practised, and not sticking to the fundamentals – so a big headache.”
‘They stood up and fought’ – Exeter reaction
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Radio Devon:
“The reality is there were a lot of really good players missing from that Northampton team – you can’t run away from that to start with.
“Literally the first couple of things that went against us in the first half created a wobble that took us a long time to recover from. It’s my job to keep working with the players and give them the confidence to come through that, and stick at it, and hopefully today’s end result will create some of that as well.
“We had nowhere to go at half-time. We either had to roll over and die or stand up and fight, and fair play to the lads, they stood up and fought.
On Feyi-Waboso “It’s just cramp. We have to get him recovered as quickly as possible. It was his first game back and there was plenty of running around.”
Northampton: Hendy; Todaro, Litchfield, Dingwall, Ramm; Belleau, McParland; Iyogun, Wright, Davison, Coles, Prowse, Scott-Young, Pearson, Chick
Replacements: Walker, Fischetti, Miller Mills, Van Der Mescht, Graham, Weimann, Hutchinson
Exeter: Hodge; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Hammersley, Brown-Bampoe; Skinner, Varney; Goodrick-Clarke, Dweba, Iosefa-Scott, Tuima, Pearson, Tshiunza, Fisilau, Vintcent.
Replacements: Yeandle, Blose, Tchumbadze, Jenkins, Zambonin, Chapman, Lilley, James.
Referee: Joe James
