Baxter's delight at victory

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter praised his side's showing as they kicked-off their Heineken Cup campaign in style with a 44-29 victory over visiting Cardiff Blues.

In a rampant first half display, the Chiefs blew away with their Welsh rivals thanks to tries from Tom Johnson, Dean Mumm, Matt Jess, Fetu'u Vainikolo (pictured) and Ben White as they led 36-3 at the turn.

Centre Ian Whitten added a sixth score early in the second half, before yellow cards to Whitten and fellow centre Sireli Naqelevuki allowed the Blues - who had earlier bagged tries through Lloyd Williams and Robin Copeland - to claim a crucial losing bonus point through scores from wingers Alex Cuthbert and Harry Robinson.

Although frustrated to see his side concede that bonus point, Baxter was more than happy to reflect on the positives of his team's outstanding performance.

"We played some exceptional rugby in first, probably some of the best we've played all season, but at this stage I'm still recovering a little bit from what happened in the second half," said Baxter.

"It was a big performance and in the first half we played with real intent and the attitude that we took on to the pitch following last week at Gloucester was absolutely fantastic - not just to attack the game but also the physicality and strength of the carries.

"At the same time, though, we're also sitting here a little disappointed that we've given away that point to Cardiff. When you have a couple of yellow cards go in - neither of which I thought were malicious in any way - you do put yourself under a bit of pressure.

"It did mean things went a little hairy for a while out there, but we regrouped and in the end we've got five points from our first game this season and that will do us the world of good."

Having kicked off their European adventure with this success, Baxter was pressed on what he expected from his team in this their second year in the competition.

"We are pretty open about it," he added. "Where we end up at the end of this block of group games we will take on the chin. What we want to do is go out and perform every week, just like we did today, and give it our best shot and do what we are good at and play the kind of rugby we want to play.

"As I said, if it brings the rewards then fantastic, if it doesn't then at least we are trying what we want to do against the best sides in Europe. The key for us is to make sure we keep doing what we want to do, see how it works, and get better at what we are trying to do."

Next up for the Chiefs is Sunday's trek to Glasgow Warriors, who themselves opened up with a losing bonus point away to defending champions Toulon at the Stade Mayol.

And having lost to the Scottish region during pre-season, Baxter is well aware their hosts will pose a sizeable threat to his team.

"Make no mistake, we know Glasgow are a very good rugby side," warned the Exeter leader. "Obviously we will use the positives of this result as a base to work from, but the most important thing from a coaching perspective is that we have five points under our belt and there is still plenty for us to work on."