Exeter beat Saracens to reach play-offs and end McCall's reign

Image source, Shutterstock Image caption, Henry Slade's 10th try of the season put Exeter in control early in the second half By Brent Pilnick BBC Sport England at Sandy Park Published 6 June 2026, 17:11 BST Updated 1 minute ago The Prem Exeter (8) 32 Tries: Norey, Slade, Zambonin, Varney Cons: Slade 3 Pens: Slade 2 Saracens (5) 12 Tries: Elliott, Isiekwe Con: Farrell Exeter beat bitter rivals Saracens 32-12 to ensure a Prem play-off semi-final and end the reign of long-serving Sarries boss Mark McCall. The victory moves Exeter up to third place in the Prem, booking a semi-final at Bath next week after they beat Leicester, who drop to fourth place. Tobias Elliott's early try for Saracens and Henry Slade's penalty in reply looked as though they would be the only scores in a tense first half as Rotimi Segun had a try disallowed for the visitors. But in stoppage time, Saracens scrum-half Charlie Bracken was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and Max Norey went over from a cleverly-worked lineout moments later to give Chiefs the lead at the break. With Sarries still down to 14 men, Slade scored Exeter's second try as he got on the end of an excellent break early in the second half before kicking his second penalty. Italy lock Andrea Zambonin made the result safe with a try with 16 minutes left as Exeter returned to the play-offs for the first time since 2021. Nick Isiekwe went over for Saracens with eight minutes to go before Exeter scrum-half Stephen Varney earned a try-scoring bonus point two minutes from the end. Salary scandal unity my proudest time - McCall Published 2 days ago Exeter’s Baxter ready for one last battle with Saracens’ McCall Published 1 day ago Image source, Shutterstock Image caption, Mark McCall ends his Saracens coaching career with six Prem titles and thee European Champions Cups For Saracens boss McCall it was one final big clash with Exeter - having done battle as the country's top two sides during the second half of the 2010s. The outgoing Saracens boss – whose 17-year stint as director of rugby ends this season – has lost just one knockout game to the Chiefs – the 2017 Premiership semi-final – having beaten Exeter in three Twickenham showpieces between 2016 and 2020. While not formally a knockout game, this match had the same feel with it being effectively a winner-takes-all game for a place in the semi-finals. And with Exeter the club with most to feel aggrieved about after the salary cap scandal that saw Saracens relegated in 2020, there was a tension in the air as the sides ran out at a packed Sandy Park. Image source, Shutterstock Image caption, Max Norey's second try in three games gave Exeter a half-time lead But McCall's side soon silenced the ground as Elliott dotted down in the right corner a few phases after Saracens were awarded a scrum under the Exeter posts as Harvey Skinner's clearing kick from a dead ball went out on the full. Slade's 18th minute penalty put Exeter on the board, but they rarel