By Louis Chapman-Coombe
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter says he will take the positives out of their quarter-final defeat to Toulouse, citing it as a learning opportunity for his players.
The Chiefs fell to a heavy 64-26 loss against the French giants, largely due to a second-half collapse, however Baxter is still determined to use this as a positive experience for his new-look group.
“I think you’ve got to look at the participation in every big game to be as big a positive as you can,” he told members of the media today.
He added: “if you never get in a quarter-final you’re never going to win one. You have to get there and then you have to be prepared to take what happens on the chin.”
“Being involved in a big game in Toulouse is a fantastic experience, but we’ve got to make sure the lad’s mind are guided in the correct way.”
Baxter’s side put in an incredibly competitive performance in the first half, and were ahead in the 45th minute, but lapses in defence ultimately saw Toulouse run away with the game.
Reflecting on the manner of the defeat, Baxter said his side will still need to take the positives from the occasion as a whole.
“Yes, things got away from us in the second half, but it’s my job to make sure the lads realise that there were a lot of things in that game that were really important for us. Some of them will be some learnings, some of them will be the experience of being there and feeling it, surviving it for a period, knowing you can do it even if you couldn’t do it for the full game and then knowing that the next step is just to commit that hard again.”
“That’s what’s tough about sport, but it’s also what’s great about sport. Those are some of the things we can talk about to make sure that we don’t let a single result mean too much negatively. We’ve got to make that game over there really count for something and that’s what it’s my job to make sure the lads understand.”
The Chiefs DoR also said his team had done a ‘decent’ review: “we’ve done a decent level of review on it for obvious reasons. There are such important lessons in there that we shouldn’t ignore.”
He added: “There’s stuff to learn because in the heat of battle, that’s where your big learnings need to happen.”
Baxter and his band of merry men now turn their attention, once again, to a clash with West Country rivals Bath at Sandy Park.
The teams only met a week previous in the Champions Cup, with Exeter coming out on top 21-15 thanks to a spirited late comeback.
In that game though, Bath won an incredible 20 turnovers, with Sam Underhill leading the charge with three to his name. This stunted Exeter’s attack in the first-half, and Baxter said his team will need to improve at the breakdown to avoid a repeat of this.
“There are a few things we’ve looked at in our review of the Bath game that we need to better around the breakdown. We under-resourced a couple of rucks, and particularly in the latter stage of the game, we were ineffective and slow on a couple of clear-outs that without a doubt we should have been better on. We’ve looked at a few things and I think that’s an area we’re well prepared for.”