Baxter stays positive despite Heinekin Cup defeat

Nobody said Exeter's first-ever involvement in the Heineken Cup would be easy, but Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter refused to be too downbeat despite seeing his side slip to a second successive defeat in the competition against French giants Clermont Auvergne at Sandy Park.

With Baxter's side leading 12-10 at the break thanks to four Gareth Steenson penalties, the Devon club - who had lost narrowly to reigning champions Leinster in their opening fixture in Dublin - were then hit by a ferocious second half attacking display from the visitors.

Clermont were simply sublime during the second period, running in 36 unanswered points - including five tries - to ensure they remain top of Pool 5 with a maximum haul of 10 points.

Afterwards, Baxter said: "We gave it a real go, but we created some good try-scoring opportunities in the first half, which we didn't take. We kicked our penalties and we stayed in the game, but in hindsight not scoring those opportunities stopped it becoming a real pressure game for Clermont.

"We said before the game that we knew we had to come out and play and try and make the game about us - and we did that for 50 minutes of the game - but the trouble was the other half hour was a little bit too good coming the other way.

"You have to take your hats off to them because they really played in the second half. They attacked from deep and kept the ball and tried to wrestle the momentum of the game away from us."

Baxter added: "We asked the players to be brave and we asked them to go out and play and they did that in spades. Yes the game got away from us, but it got away from us because we were up against a very good side and I think some of the stuff we saw from them in the second half was exceptional. Personally, I think if they play like they did in the second half for the rest of the season, you may have your favourites for the Heineken Cup there."

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