Victory at Sale delights Baxter

By Mark Stevens
3/12/16

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter was full of praise for his side after they notched up a third successive Aviva Premiership win with a 21-3 success away to Sale Sharks.

An early penalty try, coupled with first half touchdowns for James Short and Will Chudley, were the highlights for the visitors, whose remaining points came courtesy of skipper Gareth Steenson’s right boot.
Fly-half AJ MacGinty claimed Sale’s only points on the night with a first half penalty, but that completed the scoring for both sides as the second period remained pointless.

Although the Chiefs failed to pick up a fourth try and the all-important bonus point that comes with that feat, Baxter was still a man happy come the final whistle.

“You have to be a bit careful not to get too carried away,” he said. “You see 21-3 on the scoreboard and wonder why we didn’t get the bonus point, but actually I’m really pleased with the lads and the way they played tonight.

“I thought we worked exceptionally hard to put together a performance that got us a very important win away from home at a place where traditionally we’ve not always played that well or got positive results.

“You can’t underestimate the short turnaround for Sale, they played only five days ago at Wasps, so it does drain you a bit. That said, we made the most of it by working very hard ourselves. Defensively we were excellent, our linespeed was there, we showed great discipline and our tackle completion was right up there as well.”

Certainly Exeter’s defensive showing was right up there and it’s a further sign that the Chiefs are beginning to find their straps after what they would describe as a mixed start to the season.

“To me I wouldn’t call tonight a comfortable win, more so a well earned and hard fought win,” added Baxter. “I thought we did it the right way and without taking short cuts.

“As I said, I have to give the players all the credit because we came here with a game plan and they have executed it almost faultlessly. That was largely based around hard work, discipline, getting off the floor and refocusing at each set-piece.

“Those are the keys in any game, but especially coming to a place like Sale because they can get at you in all those areas and we didn’t allow that to happen.”

Exeter’s latest win put last season’s beaten finalists back amongst the top four and in a position where Baxter believes that can now attack from.

“All we are doing now is building a foundation to potentially target the higher end of the league,” he said. “We’re aware there is still a long way to go and that we need to be a fair bit better than we were today.

“This game, however, was pivotal for us because it drives in and around that top four and that’s where we want to be. We’ve got some tough games coming up, Leicester and Bath are our next two league games, so it’s important we continue this good form.

“Plus it’s very much about taking your opportunities like tonight. We’re aware it was a quick turnaround for Sale and that it was a possible opportunity for us to exploit.  Tonight, I thought, we took pretty much every opportunity with both hands.”