Destroyer-in-Chief James seals first Rec triumph SHORT IS TOP MAN
Bath see win slip down plughole
EXETER chief Rob Baxter watched his side chalk up a first Premiership win at the Rec – then confessed he has got bigger fish to fry.
Baxter’s mob were second best in every part of the game, until the last 10 minutes when two tries from James Short got their noses in front.
Short’s second, which sealed the deal, came after a bit of magic from fly-half Gareth Steenson (right) who looped the ball between his legs to put the wing in.
That put the tin lid on a Lazarus-like comeback but Baxter, who coached Exeter to the Premiership final last season, still had the hump. Baxter said: “As a team I want us to move on, as it feels like this is what we have talked about in our Premiership history. “If you get to the Premiership final your aims and ambitions shouldn’t be about winning at Bath – but what it takes to win the whole competition. That’s a mentality shift we have to take.” Bath were all over Exeter like a rash for 70 minutes and England cast-off Semesa Rokoduguni was untouchable. He scored one try and could easily have had three before Exeter wised up. Eddie Jones was at the ground – hours after he dumped Roko from the national training squad which meets in Brighton today. Baxter added: “He was almost unplayable and we couldn’t lay a finger on him. Bath were way more at the races than we were.” Antony Watson will be heading for Brighton after coming through 28 minutes unscathed – the wing broke his jaw on England training duty in October but is back in business again.
Bath were done up like a kipper by one of rugby’s more bonkers laws as they got punished for having three of their props injured.
Magic
Nathan Catt and Max Lahiff were both carted off for head knocks and, when Nick Auterac failed a head injury assessment late on, the hosts were forced to go down to 14 men.
And Short – thanks to Steenson’s bit of Messi magic – stuck the knife in. Bath boss Todd Blackadder said: “We had dominance, apart from the last 15 minutes when we lost it. Going down to 14 men with 10 to go makes it harder, it seems unfair the way you are penalised there.”