Baxter frustrated with defeat

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter admitted he and his team had been left somewhat frustrated by certain aspects of their display in defeat to local rivals Bath Rugby.

Having seen their eight-game winning streak ended by Sale Sharks the week previous, Devon’s finest suffered another away-day setback as they went down 31-14 at the Recreation Ground.

With little to choose between either side for at least an hour of this epic encounter, it was Bath who finished the stronger to wrap all five points.

Horacio Agulla, Kyle Eastmond, Dave Attwood and Anthony Watson all claimed tries for the home side, while England fly-half George Ford added conversions to each touchdown, as well as a second half penalty to help keep his team firmly fixed in the top two.

The Chiefs offered a decent enough resistance, which included converted tries from wingers Matt Jess and Jack Nowell, but they were never really able to hammer home their threat for a long period.

“I’ve got no complaints about the overall result,” said Baxter post-match. “Ultimately, the second half saw the momentum of the game swing away from us and we never managed to wrestle it back. We paid the price of losing the forward battle a bit in the second half and once that momentum goes, it becomes pretty tough.

“At the same time, I think the area we will be most disappointed with is how much ball we threw away. I think in the first half it was a really good contest, but when we look at the video next week we will be frustrated, especially when we were in possession of the ball.

“If you look at the game, we didn’t have a kick at goal penalty-wise today, so you have to take your hat off to Bath for that. At the same time, you also have to ask questions as it was not like we weren’t in there 22. That kind of shows the tale of the game because we didn’t have continual pressure on Bath in their third and that is what you need to do to win games of rugby.”

With the game deadlocked at 14-14 heading towards the hour mark, it was the forward power that Bath could haul off their bench that proved significant in the end outcome.

England international Attwood rumbled over from a terrific driving maul to restore Bath’s lead before the forwards created the ideal platform for full-back Watson to race onto a looped pass from Ford to seal the all-important fourth try three minutes from time.

Although disappointed with successive defeats, Baxter refuses to be too downbeat and is hoping a return to home comforts against Gloucester next Saturday will provide the perfect New Year pick-me-up for his side.

“Yes, it’s back to back defeats, but you have to look at who we have been playing,” added Baxter. “We have come to a top four club today and come up a bit short. That said, there was certainly a bonus point for us out there for most of the game, and for a lot of the game we were in it hunting the win.

“I’m not too worried at this stage, going to Sale on a Friday night - I was more disappointed with our performance, rather than the result up there - and that is how we look at things. We look at the bigger picture and what that tells us is we’ve had two tough away games over Christmas, I don’t know if anybody else has, and you have to remember that.

“What we have to do now is double our efforts for what is a very important game at home to Gloucester next week because if we want to stay around the top, you have to be able to win your home games, so next week becomes a hugely important game for us.”

Baxter continued: “As I said, for large parts we were very competitive but then the game eased away from us as they gained more momentum that we couldn’t contain.

“We are a little frustrated with some of the way we played, but at the same time we showed some qualities that we’re much happier with compared to last week. I have just said to the guys, we showed some good qualities that we can build on, but at the same time we know we can play better. That is no disrespect to Bath, I thought they were very good today, but Bath didn’t make us throw the ball on the floor or drop balls, that was of our own making.

“Had we come here and won today it wouldn’t have won us anything. It wouldn’t have won us the Premiership or qualified us for Europe, but it would have helped with a collection of points, so losing in the same way shouldn’t really take anything away from you.

“Coming away to a top four side and not getting a result shouldn’t define your season, but what will define our season is looking to bounce back next week against Gloucester. I thought we were better today and next week I expect us to be even better.

“I want a big reaction next week from us because we’re at home and we enjoy playing at home. We’ve not had a home game over the Christmas period, which is when you get your big crowds, your big moments and big atmospheres, so we haven’t had the chance to savour that. Hopefully, we get a big crowd next week and we’ll perform somewhere near the level I know we can."