Rob Baxter praises Chiefs' character

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter praised the character of his team as they claimed their first away victory of the season with a 29-23 success at London Irish.

Training 23-12 with just 20 minutes remaining, the Chiefs produced a sterling fightback thanks to tries from skipper Dean Mumm and Ben White to ensure they were able to follow up last week's home win over London Wasps.

Fly-half Gareth Steenson converted both those scores, as well as adding five penalties, to give him a 19 point haul that took past 1,000 league points for the Devon club.

In reply, Irish bagged tries of their own through Nic Rouse and Marland Yarde, whilst Ian Humphreys kicked the remainder of their posts. However, it was not enough to halt Baxter's side at the Madejski Stadium.

Afterwards, the Exeter leader admitted he was pleased to take the win, but knows a much-improved display will be needed when his side welcome defending champions Leicester Tigers to Sandy Park this Sunday.

"It was probably one of those games when we look back, we'll say it was a very important win for us," said Baxter. "I thought the players showed some fantastic character, and that is the biggest thing for us to take out of the game, but I’m not sure there is too much more we want to take out of it.

"If we're being honest, I don't think we are firing on the same level that we were last season. But then I stop, think back to last season, and realise that we won some pretty scrappy games last year. That, I suppose, is where you have to be realistic and not expect every time you go out there that every pass will stick and that every decision is going to be perfect. There are always going to be little things that change the momentum of the game and it tends to be how you deal with them over the 80 minutes that dictates how you ultimately end up playing.

"To be fair, when we look back at the territory and possession over the 80 minutes, I think we will be pretty happy with a lot of that. What we won't be happy with are a couple of silly penalties, some silly decisions that put us under pressure and our turnover rate at times. I think once we eradicate more of those from our games, we'll be fine. What we have to do is just keep working hard because we've never claimed to be the finished article, nor have we claimed to be one of the best teams in the Premiership. We just have to keep working hard and today showed that when we do work hard - and we do pull things together, that is when we are a good side."

It was during the period when the Chiefs lost winger Tom James to the sin-bin for pulling back an opponent without the ball that Irish exerted their main attacking threat. The home side claimed 13 points whilst the Welshman spent 10 minutes on the sidelines - but once parity was restored, it was the visitors who finished with aplomb.

Exeter's impressive work up front, together with the lively introduction of scrum-half Dave Lewis, helped spark the revival form which Baxter's troops were able to pounce.

And post-match, Baxter was quick to praise his pack of forwards, adding: "I thought we won the game in a way that is relatively unusual for us, because we did it by putting a real squeeze on up front. Our forwards rolled their sleeves up, got on with it and great credit to them and the work (assistant/forwards coach) Rob Hunter has been doing with them, because once we got our driving maul going, we forced penalties and a yellow card.

"We then got a five-metre scrum, and our forwards went for it until we scored. As I said, we created some good moments today, and I am really pleased with the efforts the players put into the final quarter. But I can’t say I’m too pleased with a lot of the other stuff that we did for 50 to 60 minutes. We just looked a little bit indecisive, and a little bit lacking in penetration, instead of just carrying it hard and enjoying playing multi-phase rugby.

"I think we tried to pass around London Irish a little bit, without really engaging them, and that is a tough way to play rugby. Most defences are pretty good at staying on the move, and if you don’t engage them in a physical contest, it can become a little bit scrappy, and I think that is what we did for a little while."

So, with two wins in the bag, Baxter is now focusing his thought to the impending visit of the Tigers to the Westcountry.

He continued: "It was good to back up the Wasps win. To come away from home and get that victory always makes a big difference in the table, so for me two wins out of three in the table is a pretty good return for any team. We'll certainly take it, especially as two of those games have been away from home, but now we have to knuckle down as we have some tough games coming up.

"Leicester at home next week is a huge fixture and we are all aware we will have to be a lot better than today to really challenge them., That said, we tend to be better at home, especially when we play Leicester, so it's going to be a big week for us. The important thing now is to get the boys recovered, fresh and ready to fire into next week."

Words by Mark Stevens

Photo: Exeter Rugby Club / Pinnacle Photo Agency

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