BAXTER HAS MOULDED THIS WONDERFUL SIDE IN HIS IMAGE

IF EVER a team were moulded in the shape of their coach, it must be Exeter and Rob Baxter, who grows more impressive with every season in charge of the Chiefs. There was a moment midway through the first half on saturday when BT sport went to Baxter for his comments in the stand. Now these moments can be tricky. His side had scarcely touched the ball for the first 20 minutes, Toulouse were attacking from all angles, a couple of Exeter lineouts had gone awry and Yoann Huget had just been bundled into touch when he looked like scoring. The Chiefs were playing with the wind but already trailed 6-0. This could be interesting, I thought, as they spoke to the Exeter coach. It was but not in the way you might think. Baxter (right) was calm, chatty, unflustered and in total control. To summarise his comments: it was early days, they were only 6-0 down against one of the great teams in Europe, they had an 80-minute gameplan and all they needed to do initially was stay in touch on the scoreboard and his team would come good. while he was talking, Luke Cowan-Dickie dropped a ball when Toulouse threw long and a good chance to set up an attack went begging. He casually commented that normally Luke caught those but there was no admonishment. He knew that Cowan-Dickie probably wouldn’t drop another pass that day and he didn’t. No stress, no anxiety, no panic or overreaction. I thought he would take a flask out shortly and pour himself a coffee! He trusts his players implicitly — they are handpicked and nurtured by him — and they share his patience and trust. Chiefs are now a very mature side. They have been through all sorts together and learned their lesson, and they demonstrated that against a very good, star-studded Toulouse side. To win that comfortably was a magnificent performance. Three Chiefs stood out for me: Henry slade and the two simmonds brothers. slade is now the complete package and the individual, playing at 13, who England need to base their back division around going forward. He is playing that well and he is that good. selection debate for England around him should be history — consistent selection whenever possible is key at the international level. Joe simmonds is rocketing into England contention. He is quick, clever, hard tackling and an 85 per cent goal kicker. Baxter thinks he has leadership qualities and made him captain at a young age. Brother sam, meanwhile, is a force of nature at No 8 and what might have impressed Eddie Jones even more was his defensive work and adapting to the new breakdown laws. The simmonds brothers should be putting massive pressure on Owen Farrell and Billy vunipola. Finally, massive congratulations to Bristol, who produced a cracking performance to beat Bordeaux-Begles in the Challenge Cup semi-final. In Pat Lam, they have a Baxter-like figure who defines the team and I love their dynamic approach.