Sam Simmonds leads charge as Exeter swat Northampton aside
over 3 years in The guardian
Champions’ Cup quarter-final: Exeter 38-15 Northampton
Five-try victory sets up Chiefs’ first European semi-final
It is 16 months ago now since Northampton’s Chris Boyd suggested Exeter needed to play with more optimism if they were to prosper in Europe, adding their power game would only take them so far. The Chiefs have not forgotten his tart advice, which made this convincing five-try riposte all the sweeter.
If it was not quite the runaway win some expected, Exeter fully deserved to reach the semi-finals of the Champions Cup for the first time and there is no question that Toulouse will have to dig deep on Saturday if they wish to feature in next month’s final. Even when they are not firing on all cylinders, Rob Baxter’s side still take a lot of stopping and to be within 160 minutes of conquering Europe is all the motivation they will ever need. Continue reading...
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