Chiefs go back to basics

By Mark Stevens

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter said the back to basics approach from his side proved key as the Chiefs returned to winning ways with a 14-12 home win over Saracens at Sandy Park.

Having suffered back-to-back losses on the road to Northampton Saints and league newcomers London Welsh, the need for an instant response from Baxter's men was seen as vital ahead of what is a testing batch of fixtures for the Westcountry's finest, both in the Premiership and the Heineken Cup.

In testing conditions, both overhead and underfoot, the Chiefs duly served up a Sunday special as Sireli Naqelevuki's try and three penalties from fly-half Ignacio Mieres helped propel the Devon club back into fifth spot.

England fly-half Owen Farrell countered with three penalties for the visitors, but it was not enough to prevent the Chiefs from claiming their second win of the campaign on home soil.

Afterwards, a delighted Baxter praised not only his side's display, but also their character after their setback to Welsh just seven days earlier. He remarked: "We were disappointed with last week - of course we were - but you should really only get out of a game what you really deserve.

"Last week did we really play to our potential and deserve a win? Well, probably not. Did we play close to our potential today? Well, it's obvious we were a lot better. I thought we stuck well to a tough game plan and we've come through what was another tough game of rugby.

"I kind of hope that this result now shows everybody what we were talking about last week. It's not about you lose a game you'd like to win and everything is falling apart and everything has gone wrong, the Premiership is simply not like that. There are tough fixtures every week and you have to prepare very well for each of them, plus you have to be very good for 80 minutes out on the pitch and be competitive. Sometimes you will come away with it - and sometimes you won't - the key thing is just to keep going for it.

"We are all very aware that it is points on the board at this time of year that give you a bit of a cushion to push on and look higher up the table and not over your shoulder all the time," said Baxter.

"There was no panic after last week and today kind of shows why. It is about sticking to what you know you are doing well, keep working hard, and the next game can bring something different.

"We challenged the team and they challenged themselves about how we wanted to be seen out on the pitch. We said 'do we want to be seen as a team that is going to fight for everything, chase everything, bounce off the floor and be prepared to put in long sets of defence?' Today we were so much better in all those areas and we focused on the basics about what we are as a team. That is what we did this week and the guys took it on board and great credit to them they got what they deserved out of the game."

But whilst Baxter celebrated, opposite number Mark McCall admitted Chris Ashton's second-half yellow card was the turning point as the Chiefs sent his side crashing to their first defeat of the season.

The 25-year-old wing was sent to the bin nine minutes after the half-time interval for reckless charging and moments later the Chiefs exposed the space left by him to score through centre Naqelevuki in the left corner.

Ashton's card was one of two the visitors were dealt out by referee Sean Davey, who also dispatched skipper Kelly Brown to the cooler in the first half, as well as repeating the feat for Exeter hooker Chris Whitehead in the second period.

"I think Exeter were much better than us, I think the fundamentals let us down. Our set piece in the first half in particular wasn't good enough and we gave a lot of penalties away," said McCall. "If you are going to come to a place like Sandy Park and spend 60 minutes of the game with 15 men I think that is a big mistake. Our yellow cards and our penalty count just weren't good enough.

"I didn't have a great view of Chris' yellow card but it was a rash act and the consequences of that are pretty big in a game like this. There was a lot of space out there and they scored a try down his wing and ultimately that is what lost us the game.

"We came to Exeter with hopes but we faced a very good Exeter team who rolled their sleeves up in difficult conditions. They did the right things at the right times and I think we were maybe guilty of doing the wrong things at the wrong times too much of the time."