Baxter refusing to panic

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter insisted he would not panic despite seeing his side's 15-match winning streak at Sandy Park ended by visiting Saracens.

The boot of Charlie Hodgson proved to be the Chiefs undoing in the second half after they had raced into an early lead through James Short's intercept try against his former club and two Gareth Steenson penalties.

Samuela Vunisa's try just before the interval also proved important as the home side turned around from a first half with a strong wind behind them with only an 11-5 lead.

And after the break the Chiefs were made to pay as Saracens, who moved five points clear at the top of the Aviva Premiership table, turned the screw with three successful penalties from Hodgson’s boot to give them a 14-11 success.

Baxter's charges stay second in the table, but it marked a first defeat on home soil for the first time in 13 months in all competitions.

“Obviously it was a tough game,” said Baxter. “Games against Saracens tend to be close and we have just come out on the wrong side of a tight game.

“I’m more than happy to hold my hand up and say a fair bit of it was our own failings and the period just before half time where we got fairly ill-disciplined has ultimately cost us. We survived the pressure two or three times, but we seemed determined to give Saracens as many opportunities as possible to go to the corner and ultimately they got one over the line.

“When you have a scoreline like it was, it’s a huge moment in the game. There were two or three moments in the game that have gone against us, we believe a bit harshly on a couple of tight calls, but the things that were in our control were there and we could have done them a lot better.

“We didn’t need to give us some of those penalties at rucks, we just looked as though we went a bit headless for a few minutes and in the bigger picture we paid for that.”

Baxter continued:  “We know there were things where we could have been better - and against a side like Saracens you have to do that - but overall it wasn’t too bad. We’ve lost late in the game by three points against a very good team, who are very strong and who are going well in the Premiership.

"The result is not the be all and end all for us as long as we are good in the next few weeks against Sale Sharks and London Irish.”

Indeed, the Chiefs leader will be looking for a swift response from his team, who now face back-to-back away days before Bath visit Sandy Park on February 28.

At the halfway stage of the campaign, Baxter admitted to being content with his side’s fortunes so far this term, adding: “it’s pretty good going and we’re still second in the table. We’ve got some good players injured and others away on international duty at the moment, but we’re dealing with that very well.

“The lads who are playing at the moment are doing well and when we review this match, we’ll see we’ve only just come up a little bit short. For sure there will be a lot of good stuff to see as well. Our game plan held up largely for most of the game, whereas a lot of teams completely crumble against Saracens and we haven’t done that for a number of years now.”