Match Reaction - Rob Baxter
By Mark Stevens
5/12/21
Rob Baxter called it a ‘step up in standards’ as his Exeter Chiefs side made it back-to-back victories in the Gallagher Premiership with an 18-15 victory over Saracens at Sandy Park.
In what was a first meeting between the two arch rivals since September 2020, it was the Devonians who triumphed thanks to tries from Tom O’Flaherty and Luke Cowan-Dickie, coupled with eight points from the boot of Joe Simmonds.
Roared on by a capacity crowd, Baxter’s side moved themselves back into the top four with a powerful display that answered the pre-match call of their leader to truly deliver.
“It does feel a good win, not just because it is Saracens, but because we needed to win a home game, against one of the top teams who are above us in the table,” said Baxter. “It was a big game for a lot of reasons, so it was for us to win a pressure game against a good side.”
With past history between the two clubs dominating the headlines ahead of kick-off, the Chiefs Director of Rugby was delighted to see his team - aided by the return of Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill and Jonny Gray - build on their success at Bath the previous week.
“A lot of people want to drive the Exeter-Saracens thing, but for me it was important to play well against one of the better teams in the Premiership,” added Baxter in a reference to the relegation of Saracens for a season into the Championship because of breaching salary cap regulations.
“The salary cap stuff has been and gone. We all want to move on and win things in the future. To do that, you have to be capable of beating Saracens because you know they are going to be one of the teams in and around that top four. Now, we need to knock over more of these top four sides because we need to show we can beat them now - and that in turn will give us a better of chance of beating them in any future semi-final of final.”
Although not the prettiest of contests, the Chiefs were the side who offered the greater attacking threat, outscoring their opponents by two tries to nil on the day.
“We made mistakes today like we have in other games this season, but we didn’t allow that one mistake to take away from our momentum or the competitiveness we brought to the game,” added Baxter. “Today, we were able to fight and carry on without it really denting us in any way. Even had we come up short today, it felt a lot different to other games and was great to be a part of.”
The Chiefs will now take a break from Premiership action until New Year’s Day when Bristol Bears visit Sandy Park. However, the action doesn’t stop there with Heineken Champions Cup tussles against Montpellier (home) and Glasgow Warriors (away) next up for the Devonians.
Asked if the recent wins could act as a turning point in the club’s season, Baxter replied: “I would like to think so. I certainly feel a lot better now after two wins than I did a few weeks ago.
“We have targeted this month for exactly that. Coming off the back of the Prem Cup, we’ve targeted these four games to really show the best of ourselves. I think we showed a lot of determination to come through a tough game up at Bath - and we’ve done it again today against Saracens. Now, we have to show we are excited and up for it as we launch into our Heineken Cup campaign.
“It was a step up in every respect. We made plenty of silly errors, as did Saracens, but we showed that determination to bounce back from any disappointment, stay in our bubble and keep working hard.”