Derby win delights Baxter
By Mark Stevens
24/3/18
Rob Baxter hailed the character of his Exeter Chiefs side as they stretched their lead at the top of the Aviva Premiership to 11 points with a hard-fought victory over local rivals Bath.
The defending champions left it late at the Recreation Ground to secure their 13th league win of the season. Young fly-half Joe Simmonds slotted the match-winning penalty with just three minutes remaining to secure a prized scalp for the Devonians with just four rounds of the scheduled season remaining.
Earlier, tries from Jonny Hill and Sam Simmonds had helped the Chiefs to establish a 17-6 lead, but Bath roared back into life courtesy of tries from Matt Banahan and Paul Grant and led by a point entering into the final five minutes.
The Chiefs, though, never know when they are beaten and capitalising on a mistake from Bath replacement Rhys Priestland, they worked the opening from a five-metre line-out to claim the all-important penalty.
England international Henry Slade could have added to their tally shortly after, but his long-range penalty from halfway had the distance, but not the direction, and cannoned back off the left post in the final minute.
For Baxter, however, the victory was all that mattered and has put his side ever closer to securing one of the Premiership’s top two berths - and with it home advantage in the end of season play-offs.
“We have come through a really good test of character and you have got to say well done to the players, because there were moments in that game where they could have just drawn breath, and if we had done that we would have ended up losing, so great credit to them,” said Baxter.
“We had to deal with a few issues that we don’t normally have. Some of Bath’s scores came from set-piece issues that led to territory that then led to them getting points, but we weathered it and we came over the top and forced a very, very important win at this stage of the season.
“More importantly, we are starting to put some wins together, which is almost as important as collecting the points.”
It was a real roller-coaster of emotions for Baxter and his fellow coaches, after what had been a great start by the Devon side.
“We focused massively this week on our start to the game and laying our energy out on the field, and we did that exceptionally well, and that is probably one of the best starts we have ever had at Bath,” added Baxter.
“We got out of the blocks, we got our scores. We then had a bit of a period where we almost did draw breath when we did get a bit of a lead, and that enabled Bath to come back at us, but when you look at some of the defining moments in today’s game, a lot of them were just because somebody has decided to work hard.
“A little bit of extra line speed pressure has forced a mistake, or somebody has decided to chase a kick absolutely flat out to create a bit of pressure, or somebody has got off the floor and got to the next clear-out when we have put in several phases of play.
“Sam Simmonds’ try came from 20-odd phases, where we received the ball on the halfway line, and in those conditions up the slope, that takes a bit of doing, a bit of guts, and I thought we showed those things in spades today.”
In what was a physical encounter from start to finish, the sight of both Dave Ewers, Ben Moon and Phil Dollman all departing with second half injuries was something Baxter could well have done without, but he is hopeful the prognosis will be positive once a full assessment has been done on all three.
“The physicality of the game was top notch, and anybody here would have seen two teams really batter themselves almost to a standstill,” continued the Chiefs leader.
“We have got some bumps and bruises and it looks like we have got the odd injury, but sometimes those things will add a bit of steel and make you tougher.
“Considering those lads out there have had a couple of weeks away from playing, I am pretty pleased we have got our next game on a Friday and we have got a bit of extra recuperation time.”
In what is a busy period of fixtures for the Devon club - on Sunday they face Saracens in the A League, before they tackle Bath again in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final next Friday - Baxter acknowledged his entire squad can expect to see action as the season really starts to hot up.
“You would rather be in finals than not,” said Baxter. “There are some teams that, after this weekend, the end of their season is only four games away, and for us it’s not. We don’t want the season to end if we can avoid it, so getting to an Anglo-Welsh Cup final is fantastic for us.”