Baxter proud despite defeat

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter admitted he was proud of his side’s performance despite slipping to a 34-27 defeat away to Bordeaux-Begles.

In an absorbing contest - which saw eight tries scored - the Chiefs were ultimately undone late in the game by a converted try from replacement Marco T auleigne.

Until that point, the Chiefs - who made 13 changes to their line-up that had defeated Gloucester seven days earlier - more than held their own against their French rivals, who collected earlier tries through Adam Ashley-Cooper, Blair Connor, Louis-Benoit Madaule and Benat Auzqui.

In reply, Baxter’s side countered with tries from Dave Lewis, Byron McGuigan and Max Bodilly, while fly-half Will Hooley weighed in with the remainder of their points.

Post-match, Baxter refused to be too downbeat about the outcome, insisting there were plenty of positives to take from the game.

“I could sit here and rip the game to pieces, and there were mistakes we made that have ultimately cost us the match, but we made a lot of changes to come away from home to France to face a good team, and we have come up a little bit short, but a lot of what we did was good and the character we showed was fantastic,” said Baxter.

“We are looking to develop a squad that can go through multiple competitions and win, and we were one try away from going away feeling really pleased with ourselves.

“I can’t really fault the commitment of the players. That was the biggest thing we were asking for from them before the game – to make sure we showed our qualities as Exeter Chiefs.

“There was a lack of detail on occasions, our line-out went awry at times, a couple bits of decision-making hurt us, but it was little bits and pieces that let us down.

“That is what happens though when a group of lads haven’t played together a lot and you don’t get fluid in the things you are doing

“I am disappointed we haven’t got what we needed out of today’s game, and the scene was set for it to be a fantastic final round of pool matches at home to Ospreys next weekend for us, but we have come up agonisingly short.’

Baxter defended his decision to leave out so many front-line players, adding: “The reality is we couldn’t have rolled out the same team we did against Gloucester, and we have got to accept that, and I don’t think the lads have let us down in any way other than the final scoreline.

“I felt comfortable with my selection decision before kick-off, and after seeing Clermont’s result at Ospreys on Friday night, because the season is a long one and we have got to use all of these guys and help develop them and give them game time, and see which ones can step up, and give other guys breaks when they need breaks, and give injured lads the chance to recover.

“I am really proud of the lads’ efforts. They worked really hard for each other, and tried as hard as they could to win the game, and I can’t fault any one of them for their individual commitment today, and that’s the most important thing.”