Saracens complete the double
Toulouse, Toulon and Leicester are the only other three teams to have achieved that outstanding club achievement. But Mark McCall's men were made to work hard for their win, having led 23-6 at the break but then seeing Exeter score 14 unanswered points.
It took the metronomic Owen Farrell just two minutes to edge Sarries' noses ahead with a penalty which clipped a post before deflecting through. The flyhalf added a second from in front of the posts as Exeter's defence cracked and were forced to give away a straight forward penalty by sinning at a ruck.
Chiefs, appearing in their first Premiership final, were akin to rabbits in the headlights in the opening stages. Sarries controlled the ball and territory with Rob Baxter's Devon men struggling to get some light relief from inside their own 22.
When they finally broke out of the shackles, Exeter failed to make the most of their first real attacking move. Having worked the ball quickly out to the left flank, and with Billy Vunipola finding himself as final line of defence on that side, Henry Slade made a mess of his attempted kick through, sending it flying into touch.
However, Steenson did not waste his opening kicking chance after Sarries were penalised at a lineout and the Chiefs flyhalf sent a fine kick through the uprights to put his side on the board.
Assistant referee JP Doyle brought a potentially dangerous Chiefs counter attack to a halt by spotting an illegal early tackle by Geoff Parling on Michael Rhodes, as Sarries pressurised their rivals' line. Farrell made it three out of three kicks to groans of despair from the Exeter supporters, who felt Parling had done little wrong.
A sudden Schalk Brits burst set Sarries on their way to the opening try of the game. The South African applied the accelerator and Farrell's angled deft bouncing low kick through the Chiefs defence put Duncan Taylor through on the left flank. The outside centre merely needed to pick up the ball and stroll over behind the posts for Farrell to add an easy conversion.
It was a repeat moments later as right wing Chris Wyles, who grabbed a brace of tries in the semi-final win over Leicester Tigers, shrugged off weak Chiefs tackling to race across the line. Farrell's conversion meant the European champions were in full command by the break.
Chiefs continued to struggle to break the thick Sarries defensive line until 15 minutes into the second half when a change of plan worked perfectly. Turning down a penalty chance they went for the corner to pressure the Sarries line.
A perfectly taken line-out and hefty surge saw Chiefs' powerful pack push their rivals back, and replacement hooker Jack Yeandle grounded the ball. Steenson converted to give Chiefs more hope of a revival.
Charlie Hodgson strolled on with 11 minutes remaining for an emotional cameo farewell performance. The former England No.10 was given a warm reception by the fans but then saw the gap close to just three points as Jack Nowell burst over in the right hand corner and Steenson converted to set up a nervous finish.
However, Goode enjoyed the last laugh, as he finished off a flowing Sarries attack with swift passing to reach out and ground the ball for the decisive try.
Man of the match: Phil Dollman and Jack Nowell were threatening when they got hold of the ball while captain Gareth Steenson was full value, especially when he got the crowd to cheer his side on. Owen Farrell was once again steady with his distribution while deadly accurate with the boot. Our award goes to a man who was simply untouchable during his time on the park. None other than hooker Schalk Brits.
Moment of the match: Both Jack Nowell and Alex Goode's tries were brilliant, however, Duncan Taylor's 35th minute try has the edge. An excellent break by Schalk Brits led to Sarries being on the front foot. A few phases later and Owen Farrell placed a brilliantly weighted grubber that Dunan Taylor ran onto to score in the corner.
Villain of the match: It was a tense Final but no-one lost their cool.
Scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Taylor, Wyles, Goode
Cons: Farrell 2
Pens: Farrell 3
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Yeandle, Nowell
Cons: Steenson 2
Pens: Steenson 2
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Marcelo Bosch.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Will Chudley, 8 Don Armand, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Michele Campagnaro, 23 James Short.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Agence France-Presse
