'A lot of teams would like to have those unsuccessful seasons'
Rob Baxter claimed on Saturday night that numerous clubs would love to have the type of season that Exeter have endured – getting knocked out of the Heineken Champions Cup at the round of 16 stage and struggling to make the Gallagher Premiership end-of-season playoffs. The 2020 European champions were eliminated by Irish opposition for the second season running when last year’s quarter-final loss to Leinster was followed up by a 26-10 defeat in Limerick to Munster which resulted in the Chiefs exiting the tournament on the back of a 34-23 aggregate loss.
Despite being without the injured Sam Simmonds, Exeter had their noses in front on the aggregate score until the hour mark at Thomand Park after Jacques Vermeulen’s unconverted 49th-minute try left them trailing in Saturday’s rematch by only 13-10 following last weekend’s 13-8 victory at Sandy Park.
However, they failed to protect that slender two-point advantage and were swept aside by a compelling Munster finish, Joey Carbery kicking eight points to add to a 73rd minute try from Damian de Allende on an afternoon when some historically reliable parts of Exeter’s game left them down, namely their work at the breakdown and the boot of Joe Simmonds.
Their exit means that just two English teams – Sale and Leicester – have made it through to the last eight in the Champions Cup and the lack of European action has now piled the pressure on the inconsistent form of Exeter in the Premiership.
They have qualified for the last six league finals at Twickenham, lifting the title twice, but they have played a game more than their playoff rivals this season and are vulnerable to losing hold of the fourth-place they currently occupy as their three-game run-in commences with a visit to fierce rivals Saracens next weekend.
It’s a gloomy picture following the tremendous European/Premiership double Exeter success in 2020 but Baxter insisted it was a situation that numerous clubs would enviously love to have – a run to the last 16 in Europe and to still have a say in the English title race. Asked by RugbyPass in Limerick if their European elimination to Munster signalled the end of the era of the great trophy-winning Chiefs side, the coach said: “I wouldn’t say so because we have still got some players who were involved in those years who are the right age range, are still improving, are having very good careers and having very good games for us.
“But what you are starting to see now is probably sometimes you need that failure. It sounds a bit weird because we were in the last 16 of the Heineken Cup and we have lost coming away to Munster and won at home, we are still in the top four of the Premiership, albeit clinging in there. A lot of teams would go, ‘I’d like to have those unsuccessful seasons’.
“But for us, we may need something that feels a little bit off and not quite right to put that stopper and allow ourselves a proper pre-season, address a few things and kind of not necessarily restart but just re-kick some of the key foundation elements that make you a solid side. That is the feeling I get. Some of the things that used to make us very hard to beat, some of those have drifted off and we are a little easy to beat in a few areas now and we have to address that and just tinker with a few things.”
The word from the post-match dressing room, according to Baxter, was a realisation that Exeter can’t allow themselves to get pressurised the way that Munster came at them if they are to get back to being a dominant team in both Europe and England. “It’s (a feeling of) frustration because the guys know they created a lot of problems for ourselves,” he continued.
“It’s a really difficult one. We are not on the field, we don’t really know the pressure the guys are feeling and we don’t know the intensity of everything. Did we get pushed into coming off game plan or did we let ourselves get pushed off game plan, that is the battle? We cannot let ourselves get pushed away from what we need to do, that is what good teams do and we couldn’t do that today. Some of that was down to Munster, some down to us. Our challenge will be to improve.”
Earlier in his short post-game briefing, Baxter placed the blame for the defeat on Exeter not being confrontational enough. “We started pretty brightly but then our defence was so far off what we achieved last week, its intensity, its kind of collision quality, that worried me a little bit.
“To be fair to the lads we fought our way back into the game and scored our second try and it became a tight contest again, but you kind of know a day is drifting away from you when the opposition kicker [Joey Carbery, who kicked 16 points off the tee] can’t miss from anywhere and your kicker [Joe Simmonds, who drew a blank with his kicks] can’t seem to hit them from anywhere.
“You look and you think if that had been a 50/50 kicking battle we would have been in it until the death, but that is some of the simple things that happened today. Munster were where they needed to be and we weren’t and it is a great credit to Munster and the crowd and the emotion they created together, it was fantastic for them but we needed to be better than we were. We weren’t confrontational enough or competitive enough in enough areas.
“The breakdown was frustrating because at half-time we kind of solved the problem for the majority of the second half and that led to our second try, we were creating momentum, we were keeping the ball and keeping the ball quite simply as well.
“That is the frustration, that some of the very simple things, I am not saying they are easy but simple things around the golden rules on how you play, how you put your game together, we drifted off relatively easily in the first half and that is a frustration.
“That is a very big frustration from a coaching perspective because when we did those things, we kept the ball and we kept going and we were fine. As I said, if we could have started the game with that clarity of thought we probably would have seen ourselves in a lot better position with the wind to have a better position in the second half than we had.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I hope Leinster’s proud of themselves fielding a poor team. They should decide if they’re all in or not.
1 Go to commentsJordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
25 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
6 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
6 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to comments