Exeter Chiefs beat Leicester to boost Premiership play-off hopes

Exeter Chiefs dragged themselves back into the Premiership play-off places with a 35-26 win at Leicester Tigers, ending the home side’s unbeaten league record at Mattioli Woods Welford Road and tightening a race that now has one round left to settle it.

In front of a crowd of more than 21,000 on Sunday, Exeter scored four tries to Leicester’s three and moved up to fourth place, back inside the top four at the most damaging moment for the Tigers. The result left Leicester, Exeter and Saracens fighting for the two remaining semi-final spots behind Northampton Saints and Bath, while Bristol Bears were mathematically eliminated.

Ollie Woodburn scored twice for Exeter, with Len Ikitau and Andrea Zambonin also crossing. Henry Slade added three penalties and three conversions as the visitors found enough composure to finish stronger after a tense first half. Leicester’s points came through George Pearson, Olly Cracknell and Charlie Clare, with Orlando Bailey kicking 11 points.

The Tigers led 14-13 at the break, but Exeter came out with the sharper edge after halftime. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso broke clear immediately after the restart to create Woodburn’s first try, a moment that changed the rhythm of the match and put Leicester on the back foot. The home side thought they had a route back when Adam Radwan looked to have scored, only for TMO replays to show he had been held up by Henry Slade and Harvey Skinner.

That call mattered as much as any score. Leicester had already been warned how narrow the margins were by Geoff Parling, who had framed the meeting as “third against fourth” and said Exeter had “got their identity back.” Exeter looked it in the closing stages, absorbing pressure and turning possession into points while Leicester struggled to turn field position into control.

The defeat was especially costly because it was Leicester’s first Premiership home loss of the season, arriving at Welford Road less than three months after their emphatic 66-14 win over Exeter in the PREM Rugby Cup final at the same ground on 15 March 2026. That reversal underlined how much the league has shifted, with Hanro Liebenberg marking his 150th appearance for Leicester in a match that instead became a statement of Exeter’s late-season momentum.