This has been a gruelling season for Exeter with budgets squeezed and key injuries mounting but even so, they were quite simply ripped to shreds at home by an impressive Bordeaux-Bègles side in what felt like a total mismatch, which left their long-term director of rugby Rob Baxter admitting that he “100 per cent” was feeling the pressure.
This is now 12 defeats in 13 games in the Premiership and Champions Cup for Exeter this season. This was their heaviest ever defeat in Europe and also the most points they have conceded since their arrival in the top flight back in 2010. “Young and naive” was how Rob Baxter described their backline and he was right, but you could pick on any number of flaws, including the way Exeter’s scrum fell apart in the opening minutes. “Our line-out murdered us,” he added.
“The reality is that I’m a professional sport coach and we’ve just been well beaten in a competition that we’ve qualified for,” Baxter responded when asked if this result increased the pressure on him. “It might not be the competition that we probably need or want to be in at this stage, given where we are as a team, but we are and we need to do better than that.”.
From an England perspective, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is still scheduled to have an operation next week, having mulled over whether to try and rehab his dislocated shoulder in order to play some part in the Six Nations. “The operation is still the most likely outcome,” Baxter added of his wing, which would mean a 10 to 12 week recovery time and rule Feyi-Waboso out of the tournament.
