Chiefs possess an uncanny ability to grind down their foes
Fortunately for Exeter they do not need to kick much. The Chiefs’ USP is their ability to convert pressure into points when in the opposition 22. It is uncanny. They do not tend to deal in penalty goals. Rugby’s old guard – and I consider myself one – will always tell you that if you keep the scoreboard ticking over, you give yourselves a chance. In other words, take those points when they are on offer.
But Rob Baxter’s team adopt a different approach. They apply pressure, stifle their opponents of oxygen, probe and probe until, bang, they get a penalty. Then they go to the corner.
I think Gareth Steenson had a 100 per cent kicking record at one point last season, simply because he only ever kicked from right in front of the posts.
And once they get in your 22 they are deadly so you just cannot afford to give penalties away against them.
It is tough not to, however. Exeter will just keep banging away at that door, working in two-three man guerrilla pods, 30 phases. Forty phases. They are actually a pretty lateral team.
Whereas Saracens are all about getting around the corner fast and coming back at inside shoulders, Exeter like to attack outside shoulders.
They will go side to side. They are happy to bide their time.
Like a striker trying to draw a foul – Olivier Giroud, for instance, just waiting for that faintest of touches when he can go down like Sgt Elias in Platoon – Exeter will
keep probing until that mistake comes; that fatal hand in the ruck, that offside.
Then they are like: “Bam we’re done with lateral, now we’re coming through your guts.”
You cannot do anything about it because they are so accurate.
Baxter’s team have perfected the art of sealing off the ball, denying even the best jackals in the Premiership – the Tom Currys, the Chris Robshaws, the Jackson Wrays – the opportunity to steal it. It must be legal as every opposition coach makes a point of asking the referee whether it is.
If there is an area of concern for me it is the absence of Santiago Cordero at full-back. If he was even 90 or 95 per cent fit
I probably would have gambled on him because I think the balance of the team is better with the Argentine at 15.
Not that Jack Nowell is not a good full-back. He is good under a high ball. He can run and kick. But he is so much better as a second scrum-half, darting around the fringes.
You want him getting 25 touches a game because when he does Exeter tend to win.