Feyi-Waboso to start for Exeter in Prem final

England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will start for Exeter in Saturday's Prem final against Northampton less than three weeks after undergoing facial surgery.

The 23-year-old was operated on after injuring his jaw in Chiefs' win at Leicester and missed the victory over Saracens as well as last week's semi-final win at Bath.

He replaces Paul Brown-Bampoe, who drops out of the squad in one of two changes to the starting line-up. Ethan Roots returns to the back row after passing head injury protocols with Christ Tshiunza dropping to the bench.

Northampton scrum-half Alex Mitchell is named among their replacements having been cleared by England after suffering a hamstring injury while on a training camp with the national side.

He is the only change to the squad as Saints keep the same side that won 45-31 against Leicester in last week's semi-final for the trip to Twickenham.

Captain George Furbank will hope to win the title in his final game for the club before his summer move to Harlequins, while England stars Fin Smith, Henry Pollock and Tommy Freeman are in a side that have lost just three Prem games all season.

The game at Twickenham is an 82,000 sell out.

Northampton go into the showpiece with the a slight edge over Exeter in head-to-head league results this season.

Saints secured a dramatic 35-28 win over the Chiefs at Sandy Park in March thanks to Smith's last-gasp try as the game appeared to be heading for a second stalemate between the sides.

The pair began the season with a 33-33 draw at Franklin's Gardens as Exeter came back from a 33-7 half-time deficit to register a confidence-boosting result that set the tone for an excellent season.

Saints have had an extra day to prepare - the table-toppers beat their East Midlands rivals last Friday thanks in part to two Furbank tries.

Exeter became the first-ever third-placed side to reach the final after their dramatic comeback win at Bath on Saturday.

They trailed 26-10 at the break before scoring 17 unanswered points - and holding out as Bath battered the Chiefs' line with more than 40 phases in the final seconds - to book their place at Twickenham.

For Exeter, who finished ninth in the Prem last season, a Twickenham return represents their first final since 2021 when they were beaten by Harlequins.

That game ended the club's first great period of dominance having reached six successive finals, winning two of them.

Since then the Chiefs have had three consecutive seventh-placed finishes before last season's troubles and their third-placed finish this time.

Northampton last won the title two years ago when Alex Mitchell's late try secured a 25-21 win over Bath.

It was their second title, adding to arguably the most dramatic final win in history when Alex Waller's try in the last minute of extra time - after four minutes of television replay scrutiny - sealed a 24-20 win over Saracens in 2014.

"They've got a power game," Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said of Exeter to BBC Radio Northampton.

"They've got some great players like Skinner and Slade to move the ball as well and I like Varney at nine - he challenges the fringes like our nines do so they're a handful."

Exeter's director of rugby Rob Baxter urged his side to stay on the front foot.

"Obviously every team is dangerous with quick ball, but Northampton are probably the most dangerous," Baxter told BBC Sport.

"So what have we got to do? We've got to fight in all areas, we can't give up the ball too much. We can't try and let the game be about Northampton's attack against our defence because if it gets to that stage you're probably losing it.

"The way you nullify their attack is them not having the ball, so there's going to be some elements of us making sure we attack with quality, because any time we're attacking with quality they aren't."

Northampton: Furbank (capt); Freeman, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Hendy; Smith, McParland; Iyogun, Langdon, Millar Mills, Coles, Prowse, Kemeny, Pearson, Pollock.

Replacements: Wright, Fischetti, Green, Van Der Mescht, Lockett, Chick, Mitchell, Dingwall.

Exeter: Woodburn; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Ikitau, Ridl; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Norey, Iosefa-Scott, Jenkins (capt), Zambonin, Hooper, Roots, Fisilau.

Replacements: Dweba, Burger, Tchumbadze, Tshiunza, Vintcent, James, Cairns, Haydon-Wood.

Referee: Matthew Carley.