'We were taught a lesson' - Rob

By Mark Stevens

Disappointed Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter admitted his side had been "taught a few lessons" as they kicked off the new Aviva Premiership campaign with a 38-11 defeat at Northampton Saints.

In a first half dominated by the Midlanders, the Chiefs had little answer to the Saints who raced into a 31-6 lead courtesy of converted tries from Dylan Hartley, Tom Wood, Ken Pisi and George Pisi, as well as a penalty from fly-half Stephen Myler.

In response the Chiefs countered with two penalties from Irish fly-half Gareth Steenson, before skipper Dean Mumm reduced the deficit with a try midway through the second half.

However, any hopes the Devon club had of staging a late fightback were soon thwarted as Northampton replacement Samu Manoa crossed from a line-out move for a fifth converted try.

Afterwards, Baxter wasted little time in dissecting his side's loss, which was their first-ever on an opening day in the top flight.

"I thought we got taught a lesson in the first half," said Baxter. "I'm not going to take anything away from Northampton because they were very clinical side in that first half and a lot more clinical than we were at any stage in the game. They virtually took every opportunity that was out there on the pitch for them.

"Some of them they created themselves, but others we gifted them and it's frustrating to look at some of the tries we conceded and then see where they came from and the mistakes we made. Far too often we gave them easy releases and as good a team as Northampton are, what you have to do is put them under pressure and make a game of rugby difficult for them. There wasn't a lot we did in that first half that didn't make it difficult for them."

Already Baxter and his players are looking to confine this loss to the history books and instead want to focus their thoughts on Saturday's impending visit of London Wasps to Sandy Park (3pm).

Baxter added: "I've just said to the players it almost felt like a pre-season game that we needed to get out of our system. In a way I am hoping that this that last pre-season blow out you need before you really crank up to the intensity you need to be at. There is no doubt we were better in the second half and that we held true to what we do and the way we want to play, but there is a reality that by then Northampton had got what they wanted

"Yes, it was definitely a better performance in the second half, we controlled possession and territory a lot better, so that part I was pleased with as was the impact some of our bench players had on the game. But, as a whole, you have to wrap it up as a disappointing day which I hope has taught us a few lessons."

The Chiefs leader will use the remainder of the weekend to review the game closely - and says come Monday he and his players will be looking to put wrong the rights of this latest display.

"I'm not overly concerned because every year we get one or two of these games," he continued. "The good thing is that we tend to respond pretty well to days like this. It's furstrating and disappointing, of course, but we avoid getting on emotional rollercoasters and I've just said to the players that we are not a bad team, it's just we've performed badly today.

"As I said, we will regroup again on Monday and look at things we need to improve on. Yes, we've got a tough start to the season, but the Premiership is like that. What the boys have to do now is knuckle down, not feel sorry for themselves, and realise that if you work hard and do things with conviction, we're not a bad side."