Title defence officially over as battling Saints are beaten by Exeter

The black, green and gold made 14 changes to the team that secured a stunning win in Dublin eight days earlier, with only Tom Litchfield starting again.

But Exeter really struggled to create much for long periods against the black, green and gold.

Eventually the hosts managed to run away with it, but Saints were in the game for a long time as they battled bravely.

The game was extremely even during the first half, with Saints levelling the scores at 7-7 before two sucker-punch scores gave Exeter a big lead they hadn't merited at the break.

Phil Dowson's men continued to fight after the interval, pulling back to seven points down, but Exeter eventually took the game away with some late scores.

It meant Saints' title defence officially ended as they cannot now reach the play-offs, but their full focus is on the Investec Champions Cup final on May 24.

With that in mind, the injuries they suffered at Sandy Park were far from ideal as Tom West was forced off during the first half and Tom James had to come off for a head injury assessment in the second period.

There were also other knocks, notably to Tom Seabrook, who played through the pain to complete 77 minutes.

Saints must now hope they can recover players as they return home to face Saracens on Saturday before heading to Cardiff for the European showpiece seven days later.

They had hoped to extend their winning run to six matches at Sandy Park, but they were always going to be up against it with so many players missing and with Exeter desperate for a response after poor recent results.

The start of the game was extremely scrappy, with neither side really able to piece anything together.

But that changed 14 minutes in as Exeter found a way to expose Saints on the left, sending wing Nick Lilley in for a try on his debut.

Henry Slade added the extras but Saints were soon trying to issue a response as Toby Cousins picked up a fantastic offload from Litchfield before being stopped close to the home line.

Still Saints came, forcing Exeter to concede a couple of penalties, with the home side eventually paying the price as centre Will Rigg was sin-binned for stripping the ball on the floor.

Saints immediately made use of their numerical advantage as the forwards sucked Exeter in before James sent Jake Garside over.

James added the conversion to level the scores, but Saints lost loosehead prop Tom West to injury before the 25-minute mark.

Saints were bossing the play though, even when Rigg returned from the sin bin.

Exeter were struggling to get anything going, but they were given a helping hand just before the break as James saw his pass intercepted by Harvey Skinner, who sprinted home for a score out of nowhere.

Slade converted and Exeter landed another blow before the break as Paul Brown-Bampoe made the most of broken field and raced in to extend the Exeter lead.

Slade added the extras to ensure Exeter would hold a scarcely believable 14-point lead at the end of a half in which they had offered little against a determined Saints side.

Saints responded to the late setbacks in the first half by emerging strongly for the second, with James' long kick forcing a knock-on that gave the black, green and gold a platform in the home half.

Saints pushed on, winning a penalty in front of the posts, which Jonny Weimann took quickly and gave to Tom Lockett, who used his strength to power over.

James converted and Saints survived a big Exeter drive from a lineout soon after to keep the gap at seven points.

Saints lost James to a head injury assessment, bringing Ewan Baker into the action for his Premiership debut.

Exeter were still struggling to create anything, and their bonus point try actually came from a scrappy Saints scrum as the ball went loose and Martin Moloney picked up a pass to dive over.

Slade converted, but Saints refused to be deterred as they kept on fighting.

Will Glister went off injured, holding his arm having been down for some time, and his replacement, Rafe Witheat, almost scored with his first touch in the corner.

Exeter thought they'd scored through Josh Hodge with seven minutes to go, but the effort was ruled out for a knock-on in the build-up.

Exeter did have their try soon after as Saints tried to fire the ball to the left, but it went loose, bounced high and Brown-Bampoe collected well before running in to score.

Slade converted and the home side would add one more try before the end as Skinner went over, allowing Hodge to add the extras from the touchline.

Exeter Chiefs: 15. Josh Hodge; 14. Nick Lilley, 13. Henry Slade (Will Haydon-Wood 77), 12. Will Rigg (Tamati Tua 50), 11. Paul Brown-Bampoe; 10. Harvey Skinner, 9. Stu Townsend (Tom Cairns 52); 1. Scott Sio (Kwenzo Blose 21), 2. Jack Yeandle (Dan Frost 52), 3. Marcus Street (Josh Iosefa Scott 46); 4. Rusi Tuima (Christ Tshiunza 62), 5. Dafydd Jenkins (c); 6. Jacques Vermeulen (Martin Moloney 52), 7. Richard Capstick, 8. Ethan Roots.

Saints: 15. Jake Garside; 14. Toby Cousins, 13. Tom Seabrook (Reuben Logan 77), 12. Tom Litchfield, 11. Will Glister (Rafe Witheat 66); 10. Tom James (Ewan Baker 52), 9. Jonny Weimann; 1. Tom West (Tarek Haffar 23), 2. Henry Walker (Craig Wright 40), 3. Elliot Millar Mills (Luke Green 40); 4. Ed Prowse, 5. Chunya Munga; 6. Tom Lockett (c) (Callum Hunter-Hill 59), 7. Fyn Brown, 8. Angus Scott-Young (Archie Benson 69).

Referee: Karl Dickson