Baxter frustrated after defeat

By Mark Stevens
11/12/16

Rob Baxter was left ‘frustrated’ after watching his Exeter Chiefs side slip to a third successive defeat in this season’s European Champions Cup.

Having already lost to Clermont Auvergne and Ulster, visiting Bordeaux Begles inflicted more woe on the Devon club by winning their round three enounter 13-7 at Sandy Park.

Jack Maunder’s first-ever try for the Chiefs, converted by skipper Gareth Steenson, had helped to give the home side a 7-3 lead at the break, but back bounced the Frenchmen in the second period, claiming a converted try of their own through Baptiste Serin, who had earlier kicked a penalty.

Experienced French international Lionel Beauxis completed the scoring for Bordeaux, who moved back into second spot in Pool 5, just three adrift of Clermont Auvergne, who themselves were undone at Ulster just 24 hours earlier.

Exeter’s loss means they have collected just two points from their opening three games and whilst mathematically it’s still possible for them to advance into the latter stages, Baxter has all but resigned himself to the fact that the Chiefs will not be replicating their achievements of last term, where they won through to the quarter-finals for the first time in the club’s history.

“I’m frustrated because I thought we brought a lot of qualities to the field tonight,” said Baxter at the final whistle. “It was tough to play multi-phase rugby out there, everyone could see that, but for large parts of the game we did a lot of things right.

“We squeezed territory well, we created multiple opportunities not just in their 22, but also 5m out, but we could not convert enough of them. It doesn’t matter how much I try and dress it up, that is ultimately what has cost us. We didn’t convert our opportunities, whereas Bordeaux did.”

Success for the French side not only enhanced their qualification claims, but gave them the perfect lift ahead of this Saturday’s return meeting between the two clubs at the Stade Chaban Delmas.

Baxter admits it will be a great opportunity to put things right, as well as gear up for a testing next block of Premiership fixtures that will see the Chiefs entertain Leicester Tigers, before successive away days at Bath and Saracens.

“I’m certainly not frustrated with our desperation or our desire to go out there and give something to the game,” added the Chiefs head coach. “That alone is a big positive for me. Earlier in the season when we lost in games, there were times where we genuinely could have said we didn’t physically give enough. That wasn’t the case today because we physically committed to everything and in the end it’s a couple of important errors and not taking some of our opportunities that has cost us.”

Although disappointed with the result and an end to a four-game winning streak, Baxter insists there were plenty of positives to take from the encounter, including the return of England international Jack Nowell following a torn quad injury.

“I thought Jack went well, but you have to give him a bit of time,” continued Baxter. “He had some important moments in the game, he was relatively error free, and he will continue to get better for a number of weeks. Today was very much a base level for us to work from and now we have to push on from there.”

As for the team themselves, Baxter added: “Ultimately I’m OK with where we are heading performance-wise. We’re still on an upward curve, so I’m not all that worried. Right now I’m frustrated and I know the players feel the same because we have worked very hard and got nothing for it. That said, we just have to deal with it.

“Mathematically we’re not dead, but realistically we are all but out and all we can do is give it our best in the remaining games in a very tough group. After that, we have go again, keep getting back in the competition each year, and work hard every time we are there and learn from the experiences.

“What some people forget is that we’re still a relatively new team to this frontline competition, so we have to keep working hard, adapt to it, and learn from occasions like today.”