Exeter’s Wild Comeback Stuns Sale

If you stuck around for all 80 minutes at the CorpAcq Stadium on 28 November, you’ll know exactly why Exeter fans floated home like they’d won the lottery. Sale Sharks were 20 points up and absolutely cruising, the sort of position where the home supporters start relaxing into their seats and wondering how early they can beat the traffic. Sale almost never loses at home, literally once in the league since January 2024, so when they stretched their lead to 26–6 early in the second half, that felt like that. Job done. Move along. But Exeter clearly hadn’t read the script.

If you looked at the odds before kick-off, you’d never have guessed a comeback like this was on the cards. Sale were sitting at around 1/3, the sort of price that tells you bookies barely expect them to break a sweat. Exeter, meanwhile, were floating between 3/1 and 4/1, depending on who you check from the best betting sites in the UK. That basically puts them in the “might give it a go, probably won’t” category. The draw? Forget it, that was out at 25/1. So when Exeter flipped a 20-point deficit into a one-point win, it wasn’t just dramatic on the pitch; it completely ripped up what the odds suggested would happen.

The match didn’t start smoothly for either side. Tom Curry was sent to the bin just five minutes in for a high shot on Josh Hodge, and not long after that, Exeter’s Tom Hooper followed him after clattering Jacques Vermeulen. Two yellow cards inside eleven minutes are enough to make any coach start stress-eating, but after the early chaos, the game settled into something far more comfortable for Sale. George Ford did what George Ford does, nudging kicks over with a level of calm that makes you wonder if he even has a pulse. Luke James then carved through for a try before the break, stretching Sale’s lead to 19–6 at half-time, and the home crowd could hardly have asked for anything more.

When Alex Willis finished neatly down the flank early in the second half, putting Sale 26–6 ahead, it felt like the spark had gone. Exeter were honest enough in defence, but looked miles away from any sort of momentum. A comeback didn’t just seem unlikely; it felt impossible. But rugby has this funny way of turning, usually when you're not ready for it.

Jack Yeandle lit the fuse with a short-range finish in the 55th minute. A classic hooker’s try: gritty, stubborn, not much glamour but exactly what the moment needed. Henry Slade knocked over the conversion, and at 26–13, it still looked like a long road, but you could sense the mood shift a little. Then Olly Woodburn pulled off a brilliant diving finish in the corner, the sort of try that makes you sit up straighter even if you’re pretending you weren’t bothered. Slade added the extras again, and suddenly the margin was down to six. Sale, who had seemed so composed earlier, started to get twitchy.

Then came the moment that pushed the whole place into disbelief. Scott Sio, who moves with the combined force of a wardrobe on wheels, bullied his way over the line with ten minutes left. Slade, who by this point probably could’ve knocked over a conversion blindfolded, calmly sent the ball between the posts. Just like that, Exeter, who couldn’t buy momentum earlier, were 27–26 in front.

The last ten minutes were all nerves. Sale threw themselves into every carry, every ruck, every phase, but Exeter defended like a side that had decided losing simply wasn’t an option. When the whistle went, there was this split: absolute joy from the travelling supporters and hollow disbelief from everyone else.