Baxter delighted with win

By Mark Stevens

Rob Baxter believes missing out on last season’s end of season play-offs in the Aviva Premiership has given his Exeter Chiefs side a steely determination to go one better this term.

After three rounds of the new campaign, the Devon club sit third in the standings after they swept aside winless Newcastle Falcons 41-3 at Kingston Park.

Undone in the corresponding fixture last season by the North East outfit, Baxter watched on with glowing satisfaction as his Chiefs team ran in six tries during a polished display.

Five of those scores came in the first half as Will Chudley, Julian Salvi, Matt Jess and Don Armand (2) all crossed the whitewash. Replacement Moray Low then added another after the break with skipper Gareth Steenson completing the scoring with 11 points from his trusty right boot.

Three of Steenson’s points came in the final minute as he slotted a simple penalty from in front of the posts to further enhance his side’s dominance.

The new ruthless edge from the Chiefs is something Baxter is keen to see more of as the season progresses with Leicester Tigers next up this Saturday at Sandy Park (5:30pm).

"Not making the top four last last season on points difference has had an effect on us," said Baxter. "It's given us a nice, hard edge and I like that, so no apologies."

It was, however, Exeter’s first half display that did most of the damage, making light of an early penalty from Newcastle’s Mike Delany to lead 31-3 at the turn.

"It was slightly a game of two halves," added Baxter. "We were very clinical in the first half, scored some good tries, put pressure on their kickers and in the scrum.

"We spoke at half-time about not giving away any penalties and in the second half, we gave away only one and I have to take my hat off to the lads for that.

"In the second half we took territory and defended really well. We could have conceded a couple of tries but we didn't and that's important.

"We were very fortunate with the conditions today, they allowed us to play good attacking rugby.

"To get back-to-back wins and five-point bonuses is great for us, but now we have to get our preparation right for the match against Leicester.

"We do have options with our squad and we will have more but it is up to us to manage those options and also to look after and keep the guys fit."

For the Falcons there were very few positives to take after the defeat and they are now without a point from their first three games of the season.

They had two tries in the second half ruled out by the TMO and Dean Richards admitted it was just one of those days.

"We will sit down and dissect things later. We knew what Exeter would do and we couldn't stop them doing it," he said.

"We did have three outstanding chances in the second half, but in the nature of the day, nothing really went our way, but that's down to us. We have to look at our defence which was appalling.

"There's bound to be some finger-pointing but we have no one to blame but ourselves. We didn't score a try today which is disappointing and there were a few positives but it's the small things that make a difference and we're doing the small things really badly."