Baxter reacts to Ulster defeat

By Mark Stevens
23/10/16

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter hailed his side’s fighting spirit despite going down 19-18 in a classic European Champions Cup encounter against Ulster Rugby on Saturday night.

In a dramatic final quarter, the lead constantly changed hands before home fly-half Paddy Jackson landed a knockout blow, kicking over a drop-goal with just three minutes remaining at the Kingspan Stadium.

Even then the Chiefs could have snatched it at the death, but Gareth Steenson  - back on home soil and playing competitively for the first time in 10 years against his former club - could not replicate his earlier drop-goal, watching his last-gasp kick sail inches wide of the right post.

Had he landed it, the Dungannon-born fly-half would have capped not only a fine personal performance, but would have given the Chiefs a much-needed win in Pool 5.

Instead, they are rooted to the foot of the table, winless from two games and facing an uphill struggle to replicate last season’s achievement when they reached the last eight for the first time in the club’s history.

“We will keep fighting to the death,” said Baxter at the final whistle. “Last year we topped the pool with 16 points and now we’ve got four games to go with one point on the board.

“It’s going to be tough, of course it is, but the one thing we have learned over times is that if you fight to the death, you can give yourself an opportunity, so that is what we will do.”

Baxter added: “I know the players are hurting right now, but I think they are hurting for the right reasons. Last week they were hurting for the wrong reasons, simply because we didn’t lay it on the line and give ourselves a fighting chance to get anything from the game.

“Tonight we did that against a very good Ulster side and in front of a big crowd and a great atmosphere.  Now I am going to say to the guys that if you can play like that tonight, you can play like that next Sunday against Bath in the Premiership.

“I have said to the players that I don’t want anybody to be happy tonight, of course I don’t, but I do expect you to now draw a line under perhaps some of the poorer performances we have put together this season, and say that we are prepared to commit that much effort and energy to every game we play now.

“I would like to think tonight might just be a little bit of a kick-start to the rest of our season.”

In what would have been a fairytale return for Steenson (pictured) and club-mate Ian Whitten, Baxter was quick to acknowledge the work put in by his main playmaker on the night.

“It is heartbreaking for Gareth, and it is even more heartbreaking because he thinks that last kick is going over, and I know I did,” said Baxter.

“It is hard to take for him, and it would have been such an incredible moment, having scored all of the points in a Champions Cup victory at Ulster. But sometimes you have got to look at these things that they will make you stronger, and that they are going to put you in a position where you can have opportunities like that again, and sometimes you take them.

“I thought Gareth was exceptional today, very, very good in attack and defence.”

The Chiefs will resume their European escapades again in December with back-to-back dates against Bordeaux-Begles, but before then the most pressing matter will be the visit of Bath to Sandy Park this Sunday (3pm).