Chiefs secure narrow home win over Wasps

Exeter Chiefs 30     London Wasps 26

Report by Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs are up and running following their home win over London Wasps, but head coach Rob Baxter knows his side will have to do better if they want to be in and around the top end of the Aviva Premiership.

After losing their opening fixture of the season at Northampton Saints, the Chiefs responded in fine fashion at Sandy Park as tries from Tom James (2) and James Scaysbrook, together with 15 points from the boot of Gareth Steenson proved enough to condemn Wasps to a second successive defeat.

However, Wasps did threaten a late fightback as converted tries from Christian Wade and Ashley Johnson in the final quarter gave the end scoreline of 30-26 a much closer feel than Baxter had envisaged.

“I can feel a great deal of relief flowing through me at the moment,” said Baxter. “We weren’t always great, but at other times we were good enough today. It was very tight all through the first half and a bit of ill-discipline from us allowed Wasps to keep the scoreboard ticking over with some penalties. But after half-time we really took a grip on the game for 20 minutes, and really should have blown the whole thing wide open. 

“The frustration from my point of view is that if we say we want to be a ruthless Premiership side, it’s that last quarter when you turn the screw and force the last try. If you do that, it becomes a bonus point win for us, rather than Wasps fighting back and getting a bonus point themselves.

“We have had Northampton away followed by Wasps at home and collected four points; so it’s not a bad start.The important thing for us now is to push through and make sure we keep improving and collecting points. A challenge for us has been that when we are ahead to turn the screw and close out the game.

"It has been a bit of an Achilles heel for us. I wouldn’t say that we stop working, but we maybe lose a bit of focus and I think that is what happened today. We will obviously talk about it, but the reality is that Wasps are a good side.”

At 30-12 up, many inside Sandy Park – including Baxter himself – expected the Chiefs to power on and claim the all-important fourth try and with it the additional bonus point.

Baxter added: “I think that we did well to get the daylight that we did, and then going into that final quarter, no disrespect to Wasps but with that much daylight and needing a try for a bonus point, really the ball is in our court to get the full amount from the game.

"I’m frustrated a little by that, but probably more frustrated by the manner in which we ended up in our own 22 for an extended period; conceded two relatively soft tries, considering how we defended for the rest of the game.

“That said, we’ve always said that we will look to keep improving. We’ve never claim to be a finished article, but what today has shown is that we have to be very competitive if you want to be in and around that top end.”

One man who did impress Baxter, however, was summer signing James (pictured) who crowned his home league debut with a brace of scores.

“TJ is looking better and better all the time,” added the coach.

“He has geunine speed and power and he has got a knack of scoring tries. At the moment he is confident that he is improving and getting better, and we will see more quality from him. His second try was fantastic. He spotted an opening and used a combination of pace and power to score the try.”

Next up for the Chiefs is Saturday’s visit to London Irish, who themselves picked up their first win of the season at Worcester Warriors. And Baxter says his team will have to be on top of their game if they are to head home with the points.

“We sometimes think we are rolling into games, but that’s something I will remind the players is that you don’t roll into London Irish,” said Baxter.

“They themselves have just had a good win at Worcester, so we must turn up on Monday and make sure we are ready to work hard and fire into them. What we will have to do is make sure the game is about us, because if we don’t, we will get a rude surprise up there.” 

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Pictures: Exeter Rugby Club/Pinnacle Photo Agency