14-man Chiefs secure semi-final advantage

EXETER booked their sixth Premiership home play-off on the trot but the reigning champions had to dig deep against a Sale side who threw down the gauntlet early on and were nearly rewarded for their audacity.

- BRENDAN GALLAGHER

Alex Sanderson’s team will return to Sandy Park on Saturday for what should be a thunderous semi-final but both sides will be counting the cost of this spicey hors d’ouvre.

Chiefs lock Sam Skinner will definitely be missing after a second-half red card, and Dave Ewers might yet be held to account for a similar shoulder to the head in the first half when he escaped with a yellow.

Teak tough South African flanker Jannes Kirsten also copped an injury which forced him off before the break.

Meanwhile Sale’s brilliant ringmaster AJ MacGinty was stretchered off in the 79th minutes with a serious-looking knee injury while livewire hooker Acker van der Merwe was helped off in the first half with a nasty looking ankle injury.