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Newcastle defeat the 'kick up the backside' Exeter needed, says Baxter
By Alex Fisher
Exeter Chiefs saw their seven-game winning run in the Premiership come to a juddering halt on Sunday and coach Rob Baxter hopes it will be a wake-up call for his players.
The Chiefs travelled to Kingston Park 10 points clear of Saracens in the table but made the trip home with that advantage sliced in half after a 28-20 defeat.
Sarries took full advantage with a comprehensive 38-15 victory over Wasps at the Ricoh Arena, their bonus-point success putting Exeter firmly in their sights.
While disappointed by his side's display, Baxter suggested it could be a positive thing for the defending champions as they enter the second half of the season.
"I'm not going to make too big a deal of it but our performance was simply not good enough and it's the kick up the backside we needed," the Chiefs' director of rugby said.
"There were too many individual moments when we didn't do the business and that's not to take anything away from Newcastle – the result is a great credit to them."
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Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players Id never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. We'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
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