Baxter delighted as Chiefs seal final spot
By Mark Stevens
19/6/21
After a trying week away from the pitch, it was matters on it that Rob Baxter saluted after his Exeter Chiefs booked a sixth successive appearance in the Gallagher Premiership final with victory over Sale Sharks at Sandy Park.
Frustrated by the outcomes of decisions handed out to Dave Ewers and Sam Skinner following an RFU Disciplinary hearing earlier in the week, the defending champions put those matter firmly behind them as they set-up a mouth-watering date with Harlequins in next Saturday’s showpiece at Twickenham.
Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie set the home side on their way to a 40-30 success - and he was followed over the whitewash by Tom O’Flaherty, Jack Nowell (twice) and Alex Cuthbert with skipper Joe Simmonds kicking the remainder of their points.
The Sharks played their part in an absorbing contest, replying with tries of their own through Rohan Janse Van Rensburg (2) and Dan du Preez, but it was never enough to thwart the impressive Devonians.
Forced to go into the contest without the experienced Skinner and Ewers, both of whom were handed four-week bans following incidents in the game against the Sharks the previous week, the Chiefs were dealt an early blow when Richard Capstick, a replacement for Ewers, was forced out of the action inside the opening five minutes following a high hit from Sale’s Manu Tuilagi.
Earlier in the week Baxter raised his concerns over the inconsistency being shown around the sanctions being handed out for hits to the head in games - and the Chiefs leader was equally unimpressed with this latest outcome which resulted in a yellow card for the England international.
Baxter said: “If anything shows the inconsistency of what I was talking about this week regarding the whole head contact issue, we had two guys being given two four-week bans after two incidents which didn’t even require an HIA.
"Then today, we had a guy taken out of the game with an HIA in the first few minutes who can’t partake in the rest of the game and may not take part next week and all it is is a yellow card.
"Is anyone going to say that can all be wrapped up in one process? It can’t, and yet that’s what we’re trying to do.
“There’s no way that it’s being done correctly. We’ve got some incorrect and inadequate laws trying to deal with a situation that needs to be dealt with. None of us want to have the head contact scenarios – of course we don’t – but we're not dealing with them correctly."
Head injuries aside, Baxter was delighted with his side’s showing, which was a marked improvement on the previous week where they trailed 19-3 before eventually coming back to win 20-19.
“I always knew we were going to turn up with a different mindset today,” added Baxter. “That’s not mean underestimating Sale, because they are a very good side, but it was more that I felt we didn’t perform for long periods last week. All week I could see we were better emotionally and ready to fight.
“Obviously the difficulty we had in the week with the two lads being cited and being banned– that was tough on us, but also good for us because it gave us an extra reason to play, an extra reason to keep going.
"We turned up, we were bang on, we started the game with great intensity and managed to maintain that for most of the game.Actually, most of our mistakes and errors came from our enthusiasm to do things, rather than locking things down and not being accurate – I’ll take that every day of the week."
Indeed, it was the storming start from the Chiefs which set the tone for them to ensure they would be heading back to the capital in their quest to keep hold of their Premiership crown.
“Today was a do or die game,” explained Baxter. “The last two games [against Northampton and Sale] were not like that. When we went to Northampton we knew we would still have to come back here and beat Sale. Last week, we knew we had to get at least a point to get a home semi-final, so it took a little edge off us.
“A good start was 100 per cent important, but we were always going to start well. There are games and then there are games, and the two games before this one will not have felt as big as this one would have to the lads. There was no excuse not to be good today."