An ugly brawl broke out as the Exeter Chiefs claimed a win over Saracens in a grudge match filled with talking points in the English Premiership.
Following Exeter’s 14-7 win, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter labelled Saracens ‘cheats’ in reference to their rivals being docked 35 points and fined £5m for breaching salary cap rules.
Exeter were beaten to the Premiership title over the past two seasons when the breaches occurred.
There is little doubt this subtext was partly what led to a mass brawl breaking out on the sidelines late in the game, which saw Exeter prop Harry Williams red carded after joining in from the bench. He could now face a lengthy ban.
‘There are supporters of rugby clubs who have watched coaches getting sacked and players leave and all kinds of things, and part of that has been Saracens cheating,’ Baxter told the BBC.
‘Sometimes, the people who’ve pointed out that Saracens have cheated almost get pointed out to be the bad guys. Well, the people who have commented on it aren’t the cheats.’
Exeter owner Tony Rowe has demanded Saracens be stripped of their titles and threatened legal action
Hopefully Wigglesworth (21) gets questioned when they review the actions of Harry Williams. Definitely throwing a knee into Hogg on the deck. No place for that either pic.twitter.com/227vETQg6p
— Alan Cameron (@noremacnala) December 29, 2019
Photo: Getty Images
