Rob Baxter: The most 'frustrating part' of Exeter's loss to Gloucester

Exeter boss Rob Baxter admitted the Chiefs “rolled one error into another” after their Gallagher Prem play-off hopes were dented by Gloucester.

Gloucester shredded the league formbook with a 34-31 victory at Kingsholm, and while Exeter still hold fourth spot courtesy of two losing bonus-points, they are just one above fifth-placed Bristol.

And to compound a frustrating afternoon for the Chiefs, flanker Ethan Roots received a 20-minute red card after an off-the-ball incident in the game’s final play.

Exeter fought their way back into the game after trailing by 14 points at the interval, but it was not enough as Gloucester boosted their hopes of securing Investec Champions Cup qualification for next season.

“To come back after looking so off in the first half, mostly physically, we just didn’t turn up in those areas and Gloucester certainly did,” rugby director Baxter said.

Gallagher Premiership

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Northampton

14

12

1

1

62

2

Bath

14

11

3

0

58

3

Leicester

14

10

4

0

52

4

Bristol

14

10

4

0

48

5

Exeter Chiefs

13

8

4

1

47

6

Saracens

14

7

7

0

42

7

Sale

14

4

10

0

27

8

Harlequins

14

3

11

0

16

9

Gloucester

13

2

11

0

16

10

Newcastle

14

1

13

0

7

“They ran harder than we did and tackled harder than we did. That’s the frustrating part.

“We are still in the top four, but the gap in the first period between where Gloucester were and where we were was pretty big, and that’s a little bit of a concern. Yes, we did make numerous changes from last week, but that’s because we are fighting on two fronts (Prem and EPCR Challenge Cup).

“Our collective, emotionally and physically, in the first half wasn’t good enough. Second half, we still didn’t feel it was good enough, but we did enough to win the half and get the points, which is going to be important for us.

“We did some rash things in attack instead of trying to get through phases. When it’s not going well and doesn’t feel good, let’s not accelerate the process and make it worse.

“Sometimes, you have just got to get through things, but we kind of rolled one error into another error today.”

Gloucester secured a bonus-point success courtesy of try doubles from Max Llewellyn and Will Trenholm, plus a Tomos Williams try, while George Barton kicked three conversions and a penalty.

Exeter finished second-best in the physicality stakes, but tries for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Ross Vintcent, Greg Fisilau and Henry Slade, in addition to a couple of Slade conversions plus a penalty try, kept them in contention throughout the closing stages of a gripping contest.

Gloucester rugby director George Skivington said: “The boys wanted to put it out there today. It was more about intent than anything tactical.

“We set the markers out at the start of the week – it was not a tactical or technical week – it was about how much you care, and I beat that drum a fair bit.

“That is the team we know we are, the Gloucester team we would like to put on the pitch all year, but haven’t. It was important we did that today.”

Skivington also praised skipper Williams, who delivered a dynamic display, adding: “He is a world-class player. If you want to play attacking rugby, Tommy’s your man.

“Everyone feeds off that, and he can find little holes even if there is a stagnant moment or your plays go wrong. Tommy is the sort of bloke who can find that hole and make something happen.”