Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs: Big match preview

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham

Date and kick-off time: Saturday, June 20, 2026, 3pm

Weather forecast: 26c, mostly cloudy

Live television coverage: TNT Sports and ITV4

Referee: Matthew Carley

Assistant referees: Adam Leal and Anthony Woodthorpe

No.4: Luke Pearce

TMO: Ian Tempest

Saints: 15 George Furbank (c); 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 George Hendy; 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Elliot Millar Mills; 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse; 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Henry Pollock.

Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Luke Green, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Tom Lockett, 21 Callum Chick, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Fraser Dingwall.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn; 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Campbell Ridl; 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Scott Sio, 2 Max Norey, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott; 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 5 Andrea Zambonin; 6 Tom Hooper, 7 Ethan Roots, 8 Greg Fisilau.

Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Kane James, 22 Tom Cairns, 23 Will Haydon-Wood.

Not available for Saints selection: Trevor Davison, Henry Lumley, Freddie St John, Edoardo Todaro, Charlie Ulcoq.

Most recent meeting: Saturday, April 18, 2026: Exeter Chiefs 28 Saints 35 (Gallagher PREM)

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson: “I knew about the character of the (Exeter) group from the first game here when we were 33-7 up and they came back and drew the game. What Rob Baxter does there in terms of putting a group together and how deeply they believe and how hard they work for each other is no secret to us.”

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter: “Ahead of this season, the crucial, most important thing in our DNA that we had to rediscover was that competitiveness that if you can’t win, you draw. I think the boys bought into that very early in pre-season and I think that’s been one of those key areas that, having learned it, allowed us to get to the scenario that we did at Bath last weekend. This is going to be a tough game, but the lads are aligned in their purpose. That makes you stronger as a group.”

Opposition danger man: Exeter have an array of talent, as you would expect from any side that reaches the PREM final. Henry Slade is huge for this Exeter team and he is capable of having a massive say in big matches, as many of his team-mates are.

Tom Vickers’ pre-match thoughts: The teams that finished eighth and ninth in last season’s Gallagher PREM will face each other in this season’s final – and what a final it has the potential to be. So far this season, Saints have won one, Exeter have won one and the other game between these sides ended in a draw in the PREM season opener. On that day, Exeter set the tone for their campaign as they came back from 33-7 down at half-time to draw 33-33, making them the only PREM team to avoid defeat at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens this season. They have been comeback kings this season, and they were at it again as they beat Bath last weekend. And they have now beaten Leicester, Saracens and Bath in their past three matches. So Saints know that if they switch off at any point in this match, they will be punished. Saints will need all of the physicality they showed against Leicester Tigers, and they will have to retain that clinical edge against an Exeter defence that is extremely strong. The black, green and gold displayed excellent belief and execution late on to win against Exeter at Sandy Park in April as Fin Smith’s last-gasp try got the job done to deliver a deserved success. It is a fascinating meeting between two teams who want to play the game in the right way. Saints have won two PREM titles and would admit they didn’t play to their full potential in either final, so it will be interesting to see if this side can do that. But what matters most is winning, and as Phil Dowson said in a previous interview, finals really can be a coin flip, so both teams will fancy their chances of lifting the trophy.