Baxter hails 'precious' victory

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter described his side’s latest Aviva Premiership win as “precious” as they consolidated their place in the top four with a hard fought 18-16 win at Sale Sharks. Irish fly-half Gareth Steenson did the damage in terms of points for the visitors as he punished the in-disciplined Sharks with an unblemished six from six at the target. Sale countered with three penalties of their own from Danny Cipriani, as well as a late converted try for winger Mark Cueto, but it was not enough to dent the inform Devonians. Afterwards, Baxter not only praised his team’s defensive qualities on a hard night in the North West, but also their character as they looked to quell a lively Sale onslaught in the second half. “I say all the time that away wins are precious and that you have to work extremely hard to get them,” said Baxter. “When they come along – whatever fashion that come in – it’s always very satisfying. “I’m sat here now a little disappointed, I know it’s strange to say that after a win, but that was a game we controlled for long periods, but then allowed to get a little pressurised towards the end through a few things we did and also some things that they did. “Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition, I thought Sale did some good stuff out there in second half, and fair play to them they fashioned a good try at the end with some good rugby, some good offloads and a bit of continuity. But as a whole, I’d like to take my hat off to the way our guys stood up and defended out there today.” Baxter added: “It was almost brutal in the way they held on in there, but composed at the same time. I thought our discipline was fantastic today and it was probably the deciding factor between the two teams. When we pressurised them, especially in the first half, they were ill disciplined and we kicked our points. Then when we were under pressure, we held our discipline together. “That’s a great credit to a team who were composed and at the same time very disciplined. Often we don’t tend to win tight, scrappy contests like this, instead we tend to win with a bit to spare like last week. Therefore, for us to shade a tight contest like this, I have to say is very satisfying.” In a brusing battle throughout, the Chiefs made the most of three first half yellow cards given to the Sharks to establish a 15-6 lead at the break. Steenson, as is the case, was his normal metronomic self with the right boot, punishing the home side’s indiscretion at every opportunity. “Steeno’s a penalty machine and that’s one of the reasons why he is in the team,” continued Baxter. “He led the team on the pitch very well tonight and I’m sure he will lead them on the bus journey home as well! “He played his part tonight in what was a very attritional game of rugby. As I said, both sides tried to play in what were pretty tough conditions out there, but we’ve come out on top in the end I’m very pleased with the win. “As I’ve just said to the guys, sometimes it’s nice to see them win and score lots of tries and other times it’s nice to stand up and fight. I’d rather they score tries and make it a little easier for us coaches, but at the same time you have to have lots of qualities within your game. Make no bones about it, that was a tough physical game of Premiership rugby, where no quarter was asked or given. You had two teams backing themselves to a standstill and it was a very close game at the end. “From our perspective, I thought that was one of the best defensive displays of the season and we’ve got our rewards for it. For me, where we are, what we are doing – winning away in tough Premiership environments like this – it’s a pretty good place to be right now.”