Chiefs mentally drained after LV=Cup win

Rob Baxter, the head coach of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Exeter Chiefs stated that the club suffered the effects of last week’s LV=Cup triumph as they crashed to a heavy defeat at the hands of the reigning Premiership champions the Leicester Tigers.

The Chiefs went down 45-15 at the hands of the Tigers at Welford Road to remain stranded at eighth in the Premiership standings, almost ruling them out of the playoff semi final places.

This heavy defeat came just a few days after the club achieved its first major trophy in their 143 year history as they defeated the Northampton Saints in the final of the LV=Cup at home at the fabled Sandy Park.

And speaking after the match, Baxter stated that if anything, they were physically and mentally drained after a lung bursting match against the Jimmies in the LV=Cup final. But the Exeter Chiefs also stated that he doesn’t want to make any excuses on behalf of his players, adding that if one wants to be a big player in a big side, then he should be able to take things in his stride and be able to move on from one big match to the other.

But Baxter also mentioned that the players and the club hasn’t had that kind of experience before but that comes as no excuse for such a heavy defeat, albeit it was at the hands of the best team in the country at the moment.

This was the tenth defeat the Exeter Chiefs have suffered this season, leaving them eleven points behind Harlequins FC, who occupy the final qualification spot for the Heineken Cup, qualifying for which was the goal for the club at the beginning of the season.

But that seems a dream too far away now.