Baxter upbeat despite loss

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs saw their hopes of tackling Europe's elite end with defeat at home to Harlequins, but head coach Rob Baxter insists his side can still take plenty from what has been another big year of action at Sandy Park.

Sunday's 30-29 loss to the Londoners curtailed any lingering hopes the Devon club had of qualifying for the new-look European Champions Cup next season.

Tom Guest's last-gasp try not only sealed the bonus point for Harlequins, but at the same time gave them a priceless victory in their own quest to reach the Aviva Premiership's end of season play-offs.

The replacement struck with just minutes remaining to give Quins' the lead for the first time in the game following earlier scores from Ugo Monye, Danny Care and Nick Evans, who finished the game with a personal haul of 15 points.

It was somewhat tough on the Chiefs, who were much improved in all aspects of play following their hammering by Sale Sharks in their previous top flight encounter.

Dave Lewis and Matt Jess both crossed for tries, while fly-half Gareth Steenson added a further 19 points with his trusty right boot to ensure at least a losing bonus point for Baxter's side.

Afterwards, Baxter gave his thoughts on the performance and his side's seasonal showing as a whole.

"Obviously you're disappointed when you lose any game, but what we asked the players to come out and do today they did in spades," said Baxter. "It just shows when you get most of the way you want to play correct and the quality is there, we are a very competitive team - and today I thought we were very competitive in everything we did.

"Yes, you can talk about the odd individual error, poor decision or whatever, but I have to be very careful that I don't get too frustrated when we have actually put in a fully committed performance like that. Today I felt we moved forward a bit based on recent weeks and that is kind of what today was about for us.

"It was about us playing with intensity, enthusiasm and physicality - which I felt we did for large parts of the game - but our job as coaches is to keep improving some of our qualities while that is going on and not the other way round. I think what you saw post LV was that we were almost looking to improve as a side by being technically OK, not making too many mistakes and not giving up too many penalties, but the reality is it stopped us being competitive.

"Today we kind of went back a few weeks, took off the shackles and first and foremost said let’s put in a very competitive performance. Because of that I am pleased with level of performance, but disappointed that in a game where we have led for most of the game, we have slipped up in the last few minutes. Quins are a great side, they're fighting hard for a top four place, yet we very nearly beat them."

Baxter admitted his side's failure to power on when leading 23-5 early in the second period proved telling as the former champions came storming back into the contest.

"There was a time in the game when we could - and probably should - have beaten them fairly well," added Baxter. "But we had a ten minute spell where we took our foot off the gas and ultimately it hurt us. I'm not looking to find fault with anything because that team went out and asked what I asked them to do.

"I said to people before the game, I sat down before our club dinner this week and worked out we've got 10 or 11 players who are having their first-ever regular season in the Premiership and we're losing by just a point to a very strong Harlequins side. For me, as long as those guys are learning and we are helping them to improve, next year will be much better as there has to be improvement just because of the experience they've had, together with working and training more as a group."

With Sandy Park itself currently undergoing a huge transformation, Baxter himself insists he and his coaches will not have to tweak too much to ensure the Chiefs remain a competitive force among the Premiership next season.

"You can look at the development that is happening right now and that all feels nice, but at the same time we have to keep performing in the here and now," added Baxter. "Today was more about the here and now and a far cry from what we did against Sale."

Although the European dream is over, Baxter is confident his squad will regroup sufficiently to mount problems for opposition sides next season. He continued: "Not being in there does give us something to fight for again. Of course we will miss not being in the Heineken Cup [or whatever it will be called] because it has been a great experience for us. That said, we've also had some great experiences in the second tier competition as well.

"Also it does help you manage your squad a little easier and that will be important for us. Right now I'm comfortable with the squad we've put together - we may have a couple more additions to come in - but as it stands it might allow us to put more focus onto the Premiership again. This year we went after three competitions very hard and if we faded near the end
that's more my fault over the use of the squad, but at the minute we have refreshed ourselves a bit, found out feet again, and hit the reset button and we are back to where we want to be."