Chiefs ahead of schedule

By Nick Warren

Rob Baxter says Exeter Chiefs are ahead of schedule after the opening block of six Aviva Premiership matches.

The Sandy Park side sit third in the table, five points adrift of defending champions Northampton Saints and ahead of Bath on points difference.

It is the highest they have been at this stage of the season and matches the four wins they had after six games last term.

However, as they fell away from fourth to finish eighth last season, Baxter will be aware the hard work is still to come over the winter months when Exeter have struggled recently.

“If anything we’re probably a little ahead of our pre-season plan, but when we put that plan together we didn’t really know the strength of the teams we’d be playing against or how we’d come through,” said Baxter.

“With hindsight now we’re probably a little disappointed we didn’t collect a few more points, but we’re very aware you are learning lessons all the time in the Premiership and if you turn up for a weekend a little bit off you tend to pay the price.

“I thought we were unfortunate against Leicester (lost 24-20 at home), I thought our performance merited a victory, but I think our overall performance at Newcastle (lost 29-24) didn’t merit a victory. Although we were three metres away from getting five points from the match, I’m prepared to take it on the chin and say we learned some lessons.

“Overall, to gather 20 points from six games – 20 out of a maximum of 30 – you’d take that over the rest of the season and that’s how we’ve got to look at it. I’m really pleased with the way the lads have played in the first six games.”

The Chiefs ended the first block of league games – the European and LV= cups take over for the next four weeks – with a 44-24 win against London Irish.

As Exeter were 44-3 clear late on, it was a convincing way to bounce back from their 29-24 loss at Newcastle a week earlier. And Baxter was pleased with the way his side went about their task against the Exiles.

He said: “To get back to winning ways in the way we did was very pleasing. I thought the guys showed a fantastic physical and mental commitment to the game.

“There is an element of frustration for the final period of the game but there were some reasons for that. We had committed a lot of energy to the first part of the game, both physically and emotionally, and the injury to Phil Dollman (hamstring) which meant we went down to 14 men didn’t help.

“To be 44-3 up against a very good side was very pleasing for us. I was pleased with a number of individual performances but more pleased with the way we came through as a team and showed a s