Sarries win delights Baxter

By Mark Stevens

The fist pumping celebrations at the final whistle said it all, but Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter knows his side still have much to do if they are to book themselves a place in the Aviva Premiership play-offs.

The Devon club helped themselves to a first-ever victory over Saracens at Allianz Park as converted tries from Luke Cowan-Dickie and Thomas Waldrom (2) helped pave the way to a 24-20 success.

Exeter’s success lifted the Chiefs back into fourth-place, leapfrogging the Londoners at the same time with just one round of the domestic season remaining.

With Saracens set to wrap up their season at winless London Welsh, third-placed Leicester Tigers at home to arch rivals and league leaders Northampton Saints, Baxter’s side know maximum reward must be collected against Sale Sharks at Sandy Park this coming Saturday.

Even then the mathematics may well rule against the Chiefs, depending on results elsewhere, but for now the Westcountry outfit have given themselves a fighting chance of advancing yet further in English rugby’s premier club competition.

“It’s a big game for us and a big win,” declared a delighted Baxter post-match. “However, I’m more pleased for the players to have come into this game, this kind of scenario and come through it like they have.

“We haven’t shown the best of our qualities in the last couple of performances against Gloucester in Europe and then Wasps in our last game. For whatever reasons we’ve been a little bit off, but I thought the boys have done very well to address that this week, and for the majority of the game the intensity we showed was at the level you have to show in these types of games at this time of year.

“Great credit to the guys they have learnt from a couple of tough lessons recently and they have been hard lessons.  They shifted it this week, trained with huge intensity in the week and played with an intensity from the start that gave us opportunities. If we’re honest, the last couple of weeks that same intensity hasn’t been there and we didn’t do enough to give us those opportunities.”

From the outset in this game, the Chiefs more than showed they were up for the fight and were duly rewarded with Cowan-Dickie’s opener, as well as Waldrom impressive double that takes him to 17 tries for the season.

Baxter knows his side - only five years into their Premiership existence - continue to learn all the time from their experiences and this latest triumph will be heralded amongst their best to date.

‘We talk all the time about learning lessons and moving forward,” continued Baxter. “We talk about what’s our next challenge and how do we come through those big games?

‘Really, could it have got any bigger for us this weekend? One in which we are in a situation where we had to win to stand any realistic chance of making the top four. Coming to Saracens, who maybe have the slight advantage of not  quite having the same pressures on them, but at the same time are desperate to cement themselves in the top four - we have come here and put in probably one of our best performances of the season.

“We showed such intensity, such physicality and such desire to win the game that I just can’t praise the guys enough.”

However, Baxter knows that for this victory to truly mean anything, his side must now replicate - if not better - that display against the visiting Sharks this weekend.

The wounds of a 55-12 drubbing by Sale on home soil back in April still live large in the minds of many at the Chiefs and a response of sorts will be demanded in this next match-up.

“If we don’t match that intensity next week against what will be a very good Sale side, then we’re going to struggle,” warned Baxter. ‘Sale themselves have still got a very good opportunity to get into the top six, so they are not going to come to Exeter and lie down

“They will have memories of last year and I hope our players do as well because we have got to turn up with a different intensity to the last time we played them. I know why the last game happened, we were seeing a season out after winning our first big trophy, but if you want to be a side challenging at this time of year, playing in these big games, the intensity levels have to rise to the levels they were today.”