The Chiefs may not have the star-studded cast that Wasps have, but they deliver as much potency

the basics. Baxter, though, has added more sophisticated layers, a cerebral veneer that has been reflected this season in the cleverness of Exeter’s approach play. The Chiefs may not have the star-studded cast that Wasps have, but they deliver just as much potency with ball in hand. They play without ego but with panache.

Of course, they still know how to wrap around each other and rumble over the try-line, as they did in such dramatic fashion on Saturday to end Saracens’ hopes of a double Double. That ploy involves hours of schooling.

Baxter was caught on camera as Sam Simmonds, another youngster off the Exeter production line, touched down for the clinching score, hugging a random bloke in the Sandy Park stands as he was making his way down from the coaches’ box just prior to the final whistle and that thrilling denouement.

Baxter is very much part of the Exeter family. But here’s the thing: he is also a man of independent mind, not afraid to speak out, highlighting one of the flaws in the 2015 World Cup campaign by saying that he did not think the players looked as if they were enjoying the experience, even before the Wales calamity.

He later publicly questioned the notion that the RFU ought to look overseas for its next coach, when he felt himself that the Premiership was a tough enough proving

Let Henry Slade’s 60-metre spiralling touch-finder at Sandy Park on Saturday pave the way for kickers the world over to go for broke in just the same manner. It has been a bugbear for several years to see highly trained professionals just punt the ball end-over-end a measly 30 metres into touch.

They are all capable of doing a Slade, but they have been encouraged to opt for safety first to ensure they make touch and maintain possession from the line-out. It is a nonsense. If a golfer is expected to land a ball within inches of a pin or a mark on the fairway, why is the same not true for a rugby player?

It used to be the norm that a kicker would torpedo the ball great distances down the pitch. There is the world of difference between a line-out deep into the opposition 22 and one that is taken 30 metres from the try-line.

The torpedo kick does carry slightly more risk, but only if it is miscued. Practice should make perfect. Slade has shown the rewards on offer. It should be a precedent.