When the 2019-20 Premiership fixture list was announced this was meant to be the crunch match of the regular season. What blissfully innocent times those now seem, with salary cap abuse and Covid-19 not yet a familiar part of English rugby’s lexicon. To watch two heavily-depleted teams chasing around in a deserted stadium was a further reminder of the ongoing pain the club game continues to suffer. With both sides preparing for major European Champions’ Cup knockout ties this Saturday there were other reasons for the denuded team-sheet but it was almost impossible to reconcile this sadly diluted occasion with the tense, taut meeting between the clubs at Sandy Park back in December. Exeter’s win that day felt like a major statement; the Chiefs’ defeat here had zero impact on the league table. The visitors, courtesy of Sale’s home defeat to Bath, did not even require a losing bonus point to ensure they will now finish top of the pile for the third year in a row and be the leading seed in next month’s semi-finals. By then both these teams will also know whether or not they have made it to a European final, with Sarries hopeful that Mako Vunipola will be fit to feature against Leinster and Exeter similarly optimistic their Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg will face Northampton. This game was mostly a case of which of the sides could do the best stylistic impression of their own first team. Squinting into the bright sun it was possible to discern some similarities with the way Sarries made repeated dents on the gain line and ruthlessly exploited the majority of the chances that came their way. There were also flashes of individual promise from a number of players who, in years to come, could be familiar names. Both wingers, Rotimi Segun and Elliot Obatoyinbo, collected well-taken tries and fly-half Manu Vunipola was a calming influence, kicking 15 points and supplying an outstanding long pass for Segun’s opening score after five minutes. Exeter’s No 10 Harvey Skinner also displayed a few nice touches and delivered the clever ball over the top from which Phil Dollman released Facundo Cordero, younger brother of Santiago, to score on his debut. Aside from consolation second-half tries from Will Witty and Dave Dennis, however, it was to prove the high water mark of Exeter’s afternoon, save for a raft of debuts off the bench for several students from Exeter University which allowed Rob Baxter to rest his entire match-day 23 for Northampton’s weekend visit to Devon. Otherwise it was a day to admire the next generation being expertly reared in north London, with Dom Morris, Janco Venter and the 6ft 10in Cameron Boon all making the scoresheet. In many ways a season in the Championship will be the perfect finishing school for the likes of hooker Kapeli Pifeleti, named man of the match, and the lock Joel Kpoku while the Hampshire referee, Adam Leal, in charge of only his fifth league game, is another to keep an eye on.