Baxter frustrated after Sale loss
By Mark Stevens
27/2/21
Frustrated Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, says it’s imperative his players adapt to the rules in place over the tackle area after skipper Jack Yeandle saw red in their Gallagher Premiership defeat to Sale Sharks on Friday night.
The defending champions played for almost an hour with a man down after the hooker was dismissed for a shoulder charge to the head on opposite number Curtis Langdon.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Devonians fought valiantly to the death and came within a whisker of snatching at least a draw with the clock deep into added on time.
Again, though, there was to be late controversy with Sale replacement Ross Harrison appearing to impede Sam Simmonds as he looked to collect a five-metre line-out. Harrison’s push was clearly missed by the officials and it meant the Exeter No.8 spilled the ball in the air, gifting the Sharks the opportunity to kill the game there and then.
Speaking after the final whistle Baxter had no complaints with the red card, but was at a loss for the final decision, or lack of one from referee Karl Dickson and his team of officials.
He said: “It appears the prop at the front already had hands on everyone before the ball was thrown in. It surprised me it wasn’t picked up because it seemed so obvious.."
After watching a replay live on TV from BT Sport, Baxter added: “The loosehead prop is clearly pushing our players [illegally closing the gap at the line-out] before the ball has gone to hand. I will be the first one to say we have got to look to be better ourselves, but it is a surprising one when it is straight in front of a touch judge.
“Yes, we feel little bit hard done by, but before I say too much I’ve got to know what the officials are seeing. They have obviously seen something different. As I said, it’s difficult for me to say too much. I don’t talk too much post-game because there is a lot of emotion flowing around, I’d rather look at it in detail and a few different angles, just because what I could say could be wrong. Right now, we just have to take it on the chin.”
As for Yeandle’s dismissal and calls from some that the game needs to remain physical, Baxter replied: “The debate on whether it’s a physical game or whether you kill it, that’s a different debate. Right here and now, there are a set of rules in place, we have all been told about, and whether you like them or not, you abide by them or suffer the consequences.
“As far as I am concerned - and I’ve just said to the lads - we talk about this regularly, you have got your hands out in front and you’ve got to look to grasp. Whatever contact situation, however how high, where they are on the floor or how awkward it feels, you’ve got to get hands out in front and grasp. If that is what has been deemed not to happen, we have got a red card. We had been told it would happen and it’s happened!”
The loss means it’s two on the bounce for the champions, but Baxter insisted he and his team would look to take positives from the trip to Salford ahead of next week’s visit to local rivals Bath.
“We’ve been valiant, we’ve fought hard and we’ve shown a lot of good qualities,” he said. “At the same time, we’ve made mistakes and we’ve got things wrong, that’s why we’ve ended up losing the game. I’ve just said to the lads I felt we could have been better but, bigger picture, we’ve got a losing bonus point away from home, we’ve played for almost an hour with 14 men, so it’s not the worse outcome in the world. What we have do it move forward and attack the rest of the season.”