Match Reaction - Rob Baxter
By Mark Stevens
4/10/21
Rob Baxter insists there is still plenty to work on despite his Exeter Chiefs side recording their first Gallagher Premiership win of the season at Sale Sharks on Sunday.
Undone by Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints in their opening two rounds of the new 2021/22 season, the Chiefs rediscovered their winning formula in the North West, sinking the Sharks 25-15 at the AJ Bell Stadium.
England centre Henry Slade led the way for the visitors, helping himself to a 20-point haul that included two tries, while lock Will Witty added a superb second half score to seal their success.
For Baxter and his players, it was the perfect remedy after a testing opening fortnight and helped to silence some of the doom mongers who believed the Chiefs were set for a year of struggle.
“Obviously, I’m pleased with the result,” said Baxter. “That said, when we break the game down later, I’m sure I will be frustrated with bits of the game as well. We may feel that it’s a bonus point win that has gone begging, but I thought our general fight and intensity was another notch up.
“When you have those qualities on show, that gives you opportunities – and if you create opportunities, then you give yourself a great chance to win.
“Today, I thought we held it together a lot better than Sale did. We know we’re far from the finished article and that there is still plenty for us to work on, but equally we know we’re not a million miles away either. The differences between this week and last week against Northampton are not all that glaring, but what I did see was a better training week, which led well into today’s game.”
Smelling blood after Exeter’s opening two losses, the Sharks certainly came out with a bite against the Devonians, storming into a 10-0 lead inside as many minutes. However, by half time the visitors had drawn level thanks to a penalty and converted try from Slade.
The early exchanges of the second half saw the Chiefs pick up from where they left off and aided by the dismissal of Sale centre Rohan Janse Van Rensburg for a high hit on Harvey Skinner, it was the scores from Slade and Witty that helped pull the visitors clear.
“I think a deciding part of the game was that latter part of the first half where we were going 10, 12 phases at a time, but we’re getting knocked back and not seemingly going anywhere. That was tough, but it fatigued them more than it did us.
“I felt that if we were competitive at half time, then things would start to open for us in the second half, which is exactly what happened. The red card obviously gave us a bit more space, but the way we worked and the strength we had on our bench, it all added up in the end.”
Next up for the Chiefs is Saturday’s visit of Worcester Warriors to Sandy Park (3pm) and Baxter is hopeful that his team can maintain their performance against the Midlanders.
“As I said, it’s a good win and something for us to build from,” said Baxter. “Equally, there are work-ons in our game we will look at this week and in the weeks moving forward.”
The Chiefs will assess the fitness of Ollie Devoto, Sean Lonsdale and Harvey Skinner following the Sale game, but they will be buoyed by the news that England and British Lions trio Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill and Sam Simmonds will be available for selection this weekend.