Northampton Saints crowned PREM Rugby champions after 26-17 win over Exeter

Northampton Saints have backed up their regular-season dominance by winning the PREM Rugby final.

Northampton beat Exeter 26-17 at Allianz Stadium, with George Hendy’s two second-half tries proving decisive.

He scored two tries in three second-half minutes in the final quarter to see the momentum swing in their favour for their second title in three seasons.

Saints took the lead inside two minutes when Tommy Freeman capitalised on an Exeter error to score a try.

However, the Devon-based outfit quickly regrouped though Campbell Ridl’s score.

Fin Smith’s try put Saints back in front only for Josh Iosefa-Scott to go over seconds before half-time as Exeter reduced the gap to four points.

Josh Kemeny was sin-binned after 51 minutes for Northampton, and his side were punished as Exeter captain Dafydd Jenkins scored a try.

Jenkins was then sent to the sin bin five minutes later and with Kenemy back on field, they scored two quick tries through Hendy to win the title.