Spring is here, the pitches are firming up and the playoff race is intensifying. As dramatic finishes go this was right up there, with both Northampton and Exeter sensing they had the game won at different moments. In the end the decisive thrust came from the Saints via a last-minute try from their England fly-half Fin Smith which kept the league leaders on track for a home semi-final.

It had briefly seemed that a 77th-minute try from the Chiefs replacement Paul Brown-Bampoe, magnificently converted from wide out by Henry Slade, would ensure three points for both teams. Instead Smith came scampering past a couple of tired would-be Chiefs tacklers and had both the pace and nerve to skip away for a hugely valuable score.

With Exeter reduced to 14 players late on by a yellow card for Campbell Ridl, it had been coming. Henry Pollock had previously appeared set to hog the headlines yet again, having put the visitors ahead with barely six minutes remaining when he took advantage of the outnumbered home defence to barge past the last defender Harvey Skinner and touch down. Instead it was Smith who had the last laugh, just when Chiefs thought they had a share of the spoils.

It made for a treat of a contest on a beautiful sunny afternoon, a picture-perfect setting for anyone wanting to attract a well-heeled American investor. Exeter’s new backers will at least have been encouraged by the narrowness of the gap between the Chiefs and the league’s current leaders. On the downside there were lower leg injuries for the long-serving Jack Yeandle and a muscle strain for Ollie Woodburn, who will now be a doubt for some potentially big games to come.

The finale was always liable to be hectic but Exeter’s gameplan had effectively been decided for them back in September. On the season’s opening day they were 33-7 down to Saints by half-time and, while they finished up with a dramatic 33-33 draw, the priority this time was obvious. A faster start was definitely required.

Amid much local glee it soon materialised. Deft passes from Skinner and Woodburn sent Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scooting away for the game’s opening score inside 90 seconds, before a tap penalty by the evergreen Yeandle laid the foundations for Will Rigg to crash over with the game barely seven minutes old.

A 14-0 cushion was precisely what the Chiefs management had wanted and, despite a sharp Saints riposte which yielded a converted try for Alex Mitchell, the hosts were also working hard without the ball. An outstanding tackle from Ridl denied Ollie Sleightholme a seemingly certain try in the left corner and, not for the first time, Saints’ lineout was also misfiring.

Neither side could find consistent rhythm in the second quarter, and Yeandle’s premature departure propelled the South African Joseph Dweba into a central role. Not that it changed Exeter’s approach one iota; good line speed, pressure on opposition playmakers and a relentless work-rate are non-negotiables regardless of who is wearing the shirt.

Northampton, though, began to enjoy more possession and territory and were rewarded just before the interval when a long period camped in the Chiefs’ 22 finally ended in a pass to an unmarked Sleightholme who was not going to be denied a second time. Smith’s excellent touchline conversion levelled it up at 14-14 with the breeze now behind the Saints, the scrum battle going their way too, and their bench looking ominous.

It was certainly not a coincidence that Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, switched his tight-head props at half-time, bringing on Bachuki Tchumbadze to offer some different pictures to the referee. The scrum equation altered instantly and it was Exeter who scored next, another replacement in Will Haydon-Wood carving through a midfield hole and almost making the line before Ridl completed the job in the left corner.

With Feyi-Waboso given a yellow card for getting a hand to a long, looping overhead pass, Saints saw their chance and Smith’s little chip ahead was gratefully snapped up by an alert George Furbank. The momentum seemed to have further shifted when Josh Kemeny went over four minutes later after a Tommy Freeman midfield break but a knock-on was spotted in the buildup.

The most breathless drama, however, was still to come. Phil Dowson, the Saints director of rugby, was left suitably impressed by the manner in which his side bounced back from their Champions Cup exit in Bath last week. “We stuck at it again in what was another proper game,” he said. “It’s fine margins but I like the way we carried on playing and had the belief we could get over.”

Baxter was left with rather more mixed emotions: “As a spectacle and as a competitive game it was fantastic. Do I think we were great? No. Northampton are a very good side and there have been a lot of points scored but we’ve been a little bit sloppy.”