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Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter believes his side's daunting Heineken Cup group will benefit the club in the long-term. The Chiefs have been drawn against reigning champions Toulon
Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter believes his side’s daunting Heineken Cup group will benefit the club in the long-term. The Chiefs have been drawn against reigning champions Toulon, Glasgow Warriors and Sunday’s visitors to Sandy Park, Cardiff Blues.
Baxter’s side won two of their six games during their Heineken Cup debut last season and he’s looking for further progression this time around.
He said: “Playing in the Heineken Cup, with the group that we’ve got, is going to be another fantastic challenge.“It’ll be tough but we’ll be a better team because of it, I’m very confident of that.
“I said the same last year: we had a very tough Heineken Cup group but we were a better Premiership team in the second half of the season because of our experiences in Europe. We didn’t run away from that challenge, we weren’t scared of it, we faced it full on.
“We had some really tough games but we learnt a few lessons and we brought the things we’d learnt back into the Premiership. That’s exactly what we’ll do again.”
Blues coach Phil Davies this week hit out at critics for suggesting he is under pressure because of their average start to the new campaign.
The Blues picked up their first PRO12 win of the season against Edinburgh on Sunday and Davies insists they are ready to show their quality in Europe.
He said: “It's a terrific match up with battles all over pitch. We are talking about speed and power. We need to make sure intensity is to the forefront for us.
“We have got to be realistic; all the sides have got match winners. But we have players who have proven ability, Lions series winners, Welsh internationals.
“We have individual ability and it is the collective cohesion that we need to develop. If you get momentum then who knows what can happen.
“It's an opportunity for us, but at home they (Exeter) are a tough nut to crack. We saw how they took Gloucester apart and they are a good team. We know what we have got to do and negate to get the momentum to win the match.”
Exeter Chiefs made a real statement of intent in the Heineken Cup after inflicting a six-try demolition on Cardiff Blues. - 13/10/2013 14:37
Exeter Chiefs made a real statement of intent in the Heineken Cup after inflicting a six-try demolition on Cardiff Blues.
The Welsh region endured a horror first-half as the Chiefs ran riot with tries from Tom Johnson, Dean Mumm, Matt Jess, Fetu Vainikolo and Ben White.
They continued to punish the Blues in the second-half with Ian Whitten crossing the whitewash before the Welsh region finally responded.
Lloyd Williams and Robin Copeland both darted over for virtually identical tries with Halfpenny adding the extras.
And Alex Cuthbert and Harry Robinson ensured the Blues claimed a try-scoring bonus-point to soften the blow.
Exeter made a commanding start to the encounter with the likes of Dave Ewers carrying to good effect and Gareth Steenson pulling the strings.
But the first real chance fell to Cory Allen who half intercepted Steenson’s pass but left the ball behind.
The Chiefs worked their way back down field and launched a sustained period of pressure with ferocious ball carrying and Johnson eventually powered over.
Steenson missed the conversion and Cardiff quickly cut the deficit through the boot of Halfpenny.
But Exeter continued to dominate the territorial battle and Steenson made amends for his earlier miss to bring the scores to 8-3.
And the hosts stretched their lead when Mumm burst through a ruck and cantered home on 24 minutes, with Steenson adding the extras.
It took just two minutes for them to kick the scoreboard back into action. Phil Dollman made the initial inroads and Matt Jess eventually raced clear, with Steenson again converting.
And they wrapped up the bonus-point and virtually sealed the result as Vainikolo cut inside Alex Cuthbert.
Steenson converted to bring the scores to 29-3 on the half hour mark but there was still time for Exeter to notch up a fifth, with White powering over against his former team.
And the Chiefs fly-half dissected the posts to hand his side an emphatic 36-3 lead at the interval.
The Devon club claimed a sixth try shortly after 50 minutes with the superb Steenson sending Ian Whitten over.
Williams and Copeland claimed quick-fire tries to give the Welsh region a glimmer of hope and Exeter were dealt a double blow with Whitten and Sireli Naqelevuki sent to the sin-bin in quick succession.
The Blues capitalised on their numerical advantage as Cuthbert squeezed in the corner and Robinson salvaged a try-scoring bonus-point in the closing stages.
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