Baxter praises Chiefs after win

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs are justifying their position in Aviva Premiership Rugby's top four according to head coach Rob Baxter, after his side edged out Harlequins 26-25 at Sandy Park.

Tim Swiel missed a last-gasp penalty attempt in the driving rain and Exeter Chiefs held on for a memorable victory, thanks largely to Gareth Steenson who contributed 21 points in total.

James Short's try at the end of the first period and four Steenson penalties was enough for a 19-17 lead at the interval, despite Harlequins outscoring their hosts by three tries to one.

And despite Tim Visser's unbelievably fortunate score in the corner - with the ball coming back off the corner flag - the brilliant Steenson's second-half try ultimately was enough for Exeter.

"I thought Harlequins were very good, particularly in the first half, and they certainly took advantage of what was quite a passive and timid performance from us in some ways," said Baxter post-match.

"It looked a bit like a team with a strong wind behind them who thought that would deal with most situations by playing a nice bit of rugby.

"It looked like that was our mindset a little bit and that was a bit worrying because Harlequins took full advantage of that against a difficult wind. They established a set-piece game and a driving game and quite rightly built a substantial lead."

Despite scoring three tries during the opening 40 minutes, it was the Chiefs who held a slender 19-17 lead at the interval thanks to Steenson’s boot and Short’s score.

"The try before half-time was crucial and made the game a real fight in difficult conditions," added Baxter. "Then we started to show some proper qualities.

"At times we defended extremely well, even heroically, we got back to actually stopping people on point of contact rather than wrestling with them and we got our set-piece game going too.

"We probably showed enough and Harlequins made enough mistakes for us to edge it."

Although victorious, Baxter insisted there was plenty to work on in the coming week, particularly with in-form Wasps next up at the Ricoh Arena

Baxter continued: ”We are frustrated at parts of the performance, but ultimately, sometimes you have got to look at the scoreboard. Teams that hang around for long periods in the top four, that's what they do.

"Sometimes, you win games and you kind of wonder how you have done so."

Conor O'Shea's side remain third in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table for the time being, and with Nick Evans, Charlie Walker, and a penalty try adding to Visser's second-half score Harlequins at least left Exeter with two bonus points.