Euro qualification is just reward

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter believes his side's qualification into next season's Heineken Cup is just reward for another big year of rugby at Sandy Park.

The Chiefs wrapped up their campaign by claiming a last-gasp 40-39 victory over visiting Gloucester in their final Aviva Premiership outing.

Gareth Steenson's late penalty - just 40 seconds from the final whistle - ensured the Devon club of not only their 12th top flight success of the season, but more importantly a top six finish that guaranteed Exeter will again be mixing it with Europe's elite.

"It was a great win for us," said Baxter. "The game pretty much had everything, even coming down to that kick for Steeno right at the end. All season I've been saying the table doesn't lie and it's normally pretty correct. Well, it's correct now and we are where we want to be.

"Now we can look to double up on that Heineken Cup experience, which is very important to us, because if you don't double up on that experience it become of less value to us. You can already see this year that we've benefited hugely from all those experiences. There were times out there today when we looked electric and if we can push on with that same level of rugby, I think we are going to be a real handful again next season."

Certainly the Chiefs were in sparkling form during the opening quarter of the match, a period in which they claimed tries from Dean Mumm and Damian Welch. However, Gloucester came storming back themselves and edged in front with tries of their own from Jonny May, Charlie Sharples and Henry Trinder.

A penalty try on the stroke of half-time restored Exeter's lead, which they added to after the break with further kicks from the boot of fly-half Steenson. Gloucester, though, were not to be denied and further touchdowns from Rob Cook and Freddie Burns hauled them back into the contest.

With a two-point advantage entering into the final few minutes, it was left to Steenson to ensure a fitting finale for departing Chiefs No.8 Richard Baxter, who was bowing out with 431 appearances and 126 tries to his name.

Among those to pay homage to the efforts of the 34-year-old forward was his older brother, who added: "Sometimes people underestimate the importance of family in clubs, especially rugby clubs, and I think Richie has may be underestimated by a few people simply because of the Baxter thing.

"I'd rather people just took a step back for a moment and look at him as just a player and not Richie Baxter. The reality is he is one of the top perfoming No.8s in the Premiership. You only have to look at the Opta Stats or the things in the programme again today, he outnumbers every Gloucester forward in terms of carries, tackles and other things like that. That's Richie, though.

"For me, the biggest disappointment I have about him is that he didn't play international rugby because he definitely could have played at that level. For him to stay loyal and do what he has done is just fantastic. He will be missed, of course he will, but he does stand there now as a shining light for what other people can follow and expect to achieve.

"I've said a few times this week, we're not going to replace him, we're going to wait for the next person to step forward and want to be the next Richie Baxter. Hopefully we have someone in the squad who can step up and be that guy who glues the side together. We want that someone to perform for 80 minutes every week, then rock up again on Monday and be prepared to train as hard as they can because that's effectively what Richie has done for the past 16 years."

As well as reserving praise for his younger sibling, Exeter's head coach also paid tribute to the club's supporters who again turned out in force for the final game.

"Everybody knows our crowd are a fantastic blend and at some stage in a game, wherever we are playing, you'll hear them belting out the Tomahawk Chop. I know the players, the staff, everybody at the club loves that support, so a huge thanks to them as well. The fans are a massive part of our development and we always say we love them to enjoy the same journey as we are on."