Rob Baxter heaped praise on his Exeter side after they secured qualification for next season's Heineken Cup with victory at Worcester.
Chiefs supremo hails players' efforts after dramatic late win
Coach Rob Baxter heaped praise on his Exeter side after they secured qualification for next season's Heineken Cup with victory at Worcester on Saturday.
The Chiefs trailed 26-19 with less than two minutes remaining before tries from Phil Dollman and Sireli Naqelevuki and a conversion from Gareth Steenson broke Warriors' hearts.
"The boys are elated," Baxter beamed afterwards. "It's a fantastic achievement to qualify for the Heineken.
"We also have Northampton at home next Sunday in what is a virtual winner-takes-all game for a Premiership play-off spot."
Baxter accepted his side were a trifle fortunate to win a thrilling match courtesy of their dramatic late rally.
"I thought it was a loss, we weren't quite on our game today but it takes a good side to score four tries against such a tight defence as Worcester's," he continued. "We gave away too many penalties."
Exeter's discipline was indeed poor as they allowed Andy Goode to kick four penalties, with the Chiefs also having two players sent to the sin-bin including Gonzalo Camacho, who was somewhat fortunate not to pick up a red card.
Baxter added: "It looked bad but the referee thought about it and came up with the right decision. I didn't think it was a spear tackle but it was borderline as he (Alex Grove) was flipped over."
Hill frustrated
Worcester coach Richard Hill was predictably downbeat after seeing his side edged out in painful fashion.
"It was a massive blow to us," he said. "It's not very pleasant, we should have kicked long with the final restart to give them more to do.
"We blew a couple of opportunities and should have made more of their two players in the sinbin but I still thought that we were in control of the game."
Worcester still face the lingering threat of relegation but Hill is confident they will remain in the top flight.
"We are still not mathematically safe but it will be difficult for Newcastle to pick up two bonus-point wins against Saracens and Wasps. However, we have to make sure we win at home to London Irish next week."
