Premiership: Northampton Saints 26-19 Exeter Chiefs

The win moved Northampton up to fourth place in the league.

The first try of the game was scored by Ruben van Heerden in the first minute, but the hosts scored two tries before the break to lead 14-7.

The lead was extended by two Smith penalties before Joe Simmonds scored two tries in a matter of seconds.

Northampton's win was sealed by two tries and a Smith penalty.

George Furbank missed a late penalty as the Chiefs lost their third match in a row.

After 15 phases of pressure on the Saints line, Van Heerden scored the first try of the game to give the Chiefs a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Smith kicked a penalty in the first half as Northampton had a 19th-minute try ruled out due to a knock-on, and then a quick-tap penalty from a couple of metres out gave the visitors the lead.

Smith kicked two penalties in the first 10 minutes of the second period to put Saints nine points clear, before he was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

After winning the ball from a Saints lineout close to the hosts' line, they took eight phases to score and then the fly-half charged down the kick and sprinted in from half-way.

Smith kicked a fourth try to put the sides level at 19-19 with 13 minutes left, but indiscipline cost them the game.

Four minutes later, Freeman darted into the left corner after some patient play from a close-range maul as Phildowson's side won for the fourth time in five games.

The director of rugby is from Northampton.

There was a lot of ugly work to be done because of the wet conditions and heavy dew that made it difficult to play.

The performance was not typical of the Saints, despite the fact that it was very tight for a long time.

They hemmed us in and put us under a lot of pressure in the first 20 minutes.

Ali Hepher spoke to the radio.

It was nice to get a bonus point from the situation we were in.

"We got ourselves in it, we were in the fight and we got a little bit nave to give them the shot back into it."

The players have a good attitude. We were in the fight, and if we maintain that, we'll iron our errors around the field and we'll get better.

Northampton: Skosan, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Sleightholme, Smith, James and Iyogun.

Replacements: Mitchell, Furbank, and Hill.

John, O'Loughlin, Whitten, Woodburn, J Maunder, Sio, Yeandle, Williams, Dunne, van Heerden.

Innard, Hepburn, Iosefa-Scott, and Tuima are replacements.

Craig was the referee.