{"id":299173,"date":"2023-11-12T23:26:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-12T23:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=299173"},"modified":"2023-11-12T23:26:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T23:26:09","slug":"northampton-beat-exeter-34-19-to-move-into-premiership-top-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/northampton-beat-exeter-34-19-to-move-into-premiership-top-four\/","title":{"rendered":"Northampton beat Exeter 34-19 to move into Premiership top four"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Tommy Freeman and Fin Smith prove their England credentials in front of Steve Borthwick as Northampton beat Exeter 34-19 to move into Premiership top four\u00a0<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Northampton&#8217;s Fin Smith\u00a0was named player of the match on Sunday<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The fly-half impressed despite taking a nasty high boot to the face<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Tommy Freeman was lively on the wing and scored the opening try\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>English youngsters Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman stood out in front of national head coach Steve Borthwick as Exeter\u2019s impressive start to the season was stopped in its tracks.<\/p>\n<p>Rob Baxter\u2019s Chiefs have been the campaign\u2019s surprise package but this was their second away defeat. They have not won on the road in the Premiership since October 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Northampton were comfortable winners with Smith showing impressive control from No 10. Freeman, who claimed the opening try, was lively on the wing in a bonus-point win.<\/p>\n<p>Fly-half Smith was named player of the match and even carried on after taking a nasty high boot to the face from Niall Armstrong for which the replacement Exeter scrum-half was justly sent off. As Borthwick looks to rebuild his England side for the next four-year cycle, Smith and Freeman will undoubtedly be under consideration.<\/p>\n<p>Smith is yet to win a Test cap and neither he nor close friend Freeman were part of Borthwick\u2019s team which finished third at the World Cup against the odds.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/12\/21\/77715613-0-image-a-45_1699824946475.jpg\" height=\"441\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Fly-half Fin Smith impressed despite taking a nasty high boot to the face from Niall Armstrong<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He was very good,\u2019 Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said of Smith (right).<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Sometimes I forget he\u2019s 21. He\u2019s maturing and the more he plays, the better he gets. He\u2019s been outstanding and he\u2019s a tough competitor. (The performance) wasn\u2019t perfect but we did lots of good things both sides of the ball.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Northampton\u2019s Courtney Lawes, now retired from England duty, added: \u2018We can be very happy with that. We played a good tactical game and scored some good tries.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019ve shown we can mix it with the big boys.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Freeman, capped by Eddie Jones but unpopular with Borthwick so far, opened the scoring with Northampton dominant in the first half. Exeter just didn\u2019t get out of the blocks.<\/p>\n<p>And their coaches shouting at referee Craig Maxwell-Keys over their disagreements with his decision-making was also disappointing in a period in which officials are taking too much unnecessary criticism.<\/p>\n<p>Saints led 17-5 at the break with Curtis Langdon also scoring and Smith kicking expertly \u2013 save for one long-range penalty which came off a post.<\/p>\n<p>Jacques Vermeulen got a try back for the Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p>Tommy Wyatt made two mistakes at the start of the second half to sum up Exeter\u2019s misery. It left their director of rugby Baxter looking miserable.<\/p>\n<p>Smith kicked another penalty before England scrum-half Alex Mitchell scored the decisive try. Saints countered impressively, with Freeman heavily involved, and Mitchell finished things off in trademark fashion. Freeman had a try ruled out and Scott Sio crossed for Exeter before Armstrong was dismissed for endangering Smith\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n<p>Smith\u2019s game management, kicking and physicality in defence were outstanding.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Those sorts of red cards are always tough,\u2019 said Baxter. \u2018They feel odd to me. It\u2019s not a deliberate act of foul play.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/12\/21\/77715677-0-image-a-46_1699825010267.jpg\" height=\"357\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tommy Freeman, who claimed the opening try, was lively on the wing in a bonus-point win<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/12\/21\/77715859-0-image-a-56_1699825638068.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>England head coach Steve Borthwick is looking to rebuild his side for the next four-year cycle<\/p>\n<p>Dowson added: \u2018Fin has got a few scratches but he\u2019s having a beer. He\u2019s OK.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Northampton captain Fraser Dingwall grabbed his team\u2019s crucial bonus-point fourth score. Ethan Roots\u2019s try was only an Exeter consolation as they went home with nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Northampton made fewer mistakes than us in difficult conditions,\u2019 said Baxter.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Our young players will learn from this.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12740969\/Tommy-Freeman-Fin-Smith-prove-England-credentials-Steve-Borthwick-Northampton-beat-Exeter-34-19-Premiership-four.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tommy Freeman and Fin Smith prove their England credentials in front of Steve Borthwick as Northampton beat Exeter 34-19 to <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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