Baxter frustrated at Sarries loss

By Mark Stevens

Frustrated Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter described his side's latest setback in the Aviva Premiership as “the story of our season” following a 23-10 loss at rivals Saracens.

Having started brightly with a converted try from centre Ian Whitten, the Chiefs were pegged back just before the break when Sarries prop James Johnston himself rumbled over for a score of his own.

Level at the break, the visiting Devonians nudged themselves back into a slender lead when fly-half Gareth Steenson (pictured) landed a lengthy penalty just minutes into the second period.

But no sooner had the Chiefs gained the advantage, they preceded to hand the initiative back to the Londoners, who straight from the restart added a second converted score through hooker Schalk Brits.

Three additional penalties from Charlie Hodgson added to the woes for the Chiefs, who have now lost five successive top flight fixtures.

Afterwards, a disappointed Baxter said: "Again I'm a little bit frustrated by things, but that has been the story of our season. Today we were very competitive for large parts of the game, but when the pressure comes on and we have to make some tough decisions, we start to struggle a little bit.

"I suppose a prime example of our season was wrapped up in the play just after we scored our penalty in the second half because the next thing we do is rush to get organised for a restart, we then drop the restart and that becomes a penalty, and then we get our defensive formation at the line-out not quite right and they precede to go over for a try from a maul that we struggled to defend.

"So, from being a team in the lead, with the wind behind us, all of a sudden we found ourselves playing in our own half – but all credit to Saracens as they played the elements exceptionally well."

As has been the case for the Chiefs in recent weeks, the effort and commitment was there for all to see - but it was the on-field decision-making that again came back to haunt Baxter's team.

Baxter added: “I can’t fault our attitude and our effort - that's not an issue - our issue isn't how hard we run or how hard we can hit things, our battle is about making correct decisions and ramming things home under pressure and we just have to keep getting better at it.

"It's not something that is an overnight thing, but it's the thing that we have to get better at. I understand it will take a bit of time. Luke Cowan-Dickie was on the pitch very early today, yet he's a young man and he's not played an awful lot of Premiership rugby. Henry Slade (pictured) is the same, so I know it will take a bit of time, but it's a little bit frustrating because in a lot of ways we are getting very close to winning a lot of games."

Next up for the Chiefs is Saturday's visit of London Irish to Sandy Park and it's a fixture which Baxter himself admits is now a "must-win" for his team.

"I've just said to the guys that for the first time it's probably a must-win game for us," he continued. "Now, they can respond to that pressure this week in a positive way and really enjoy it going into the game - or they can get all scared and run away from it. For me, it will be interesting for us this week because it's a very important game for us, but I know these players will want to respond and that they'll work hard to try and get things right again."