Baxter: We’re starting to click into gear

EXETER boss Rob Baxter was delighted with their much improved rearguard effort having previously been critical of elements of their defence.

Baxter said: “I thought that defensively we were excellent tonight.

“We had great line speed, had great discipline and controlled field position very well. It’s coming and we’ve kind of reset our focus a little bit this year post-Europe.

“Any defensive system relies on one thing and that’s the players to follow it through.

“We look more comfortable playing at a higher intensity and I think that’s all it is; we’re starting to click back into gear.”

Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond believes that they are suffering from a lack of guidance, possibly because of the team’s inexperience.

“Maybe I’ve got it wrong picking too many youngsters in the team, but we need to wisen up,” Diamond said.

“We had no inspiration out there, nobody got the game by the scruff of the neck for us. What we need to have is a bit of leadership.

“When we do bring people in from the Championship – traditionally we’ve always shopped in Aldi – then we have a situation where we do lack a little bit of leadership in certain areas.”