Northampton Saints 33-33 Exeter Chiefs result: Incredible second half sees Chiefs chase back heavy deficit and both sides finish with three points

Northampton Saints drew 33-33 with Exeter Chiefs in what was an unbelievable opening weekend of Premiership rugby.

It was Chiefs that opened up the scoring through Immanuel Feyi-Waboso with just his first touch of the ball, who'd been out of action since December with a shoulder injury.

Saints then went on to dominate the rest of the first half finishing with a 33-7 lead at the break.

Edoardo Todaro scored two tries on his debut and impressed the home crowd with his versatility out wide.

The second half however saw Exeter find their feet and pull back a remarkable comeback.

Paul Brown-Bampoe was a handful out wide with his immense pace and athleticism and not before long the two sides were tied at 33-33.

With just 5 minutes to go, Henry Slade looked to have given Chiefs the win, scoring what would have been the winning try. But the play was pulled back for a forward pass in the build-up and the score finished 33-33.

"I think we threw away a victory. It's frustrating. That really was 5 points up for grabs.

"But it's true that first half had so many positives to go after."

"After what happened last season, it would've been easy to fall into our shells.

"I feel like we should've come away with a win really.

"We had an incredible second half but just run out of time in the end."

What a way to open up the new season!

It looked like Northampton's lead was insurmountable for Exeter at half-time but the Chiefs somehow managed to turn it around in a second half that was the polar opposite of the first score-wise.

Exeter looked to have turned it around completely through Henry Slade but a forward pass in the build-up sees the try disallowed

Josh Hodge throws himself at Saints flanker Sam Graham but a head collision in the challenge has seen both men down and it's a red card for Hodge.

Chiefs are down to 14 men for the last 8 minutes.

TRY! NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 33-33 EXETER CHIEFS

UNBELIEVABLE!

Chiefs have turned it around and it's all square now in Northampton.

Another no look pass, this time from Stephen Varney, and it's Immanuel Feyi-Waboso who runs away with his second try of the game.

Who saw this coming?!

TRY! NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 33-26 EXETER CHIEFS

Exeter keep pushing!

The Chiefs catch Saints sleeping and Ross Vintcent is the man to score once again.

James Ramm cleverly kicked the ball over the Exeter defense while out wide on the left but narrowly missed out on getting his hands on it in the dead ball area.

TRY! NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 33-19 EXETER CHIEFS

Exeter are making a real go of it this second half.

Ross Vintcent scores their third try of the match as they move to within 14 points of the home side.

TRY! NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 33-12 EXETER CHIEFS

Paul Brown-Bampoe uses his athleticism to break free of the Northampton defense and get the Chiefs off to an electric start to the second half.

Northampton put on an impressive display in the first half. How will Exeter respond?

HALF-TIME NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 33-7 EXETER CHIEFS

An incredible first half effort from the Saints' attack.

Two tries on his Premiership debut for Edoardo Todaro.

Exeter will struggle to come back from this now.

Saints are running away with it now!

Some incredibly quick hands see Tom Litchfield free to break straight through the Exeter defense.

A brilliant no look pass from James Ramm allows Edoardo Todaro to break free on the left wing who extends Saints' lead.

Saints take the lead after some incredible work from George Hendy.

The 22-year-old burst through the Exeter line before recovering the ball in the next run of play, putting in vital work so that Tom Pearson can claim the try.

Chiefs look to move out wide through athletic winger Paul Brown-Bampoe but he's driven out into touch by two Saints players.

A really nice move and great bit of footwork sees Alex Coles break the Exeter line and equalise for Northampton.