Exeter’s Rob Baxter believed his team were not at their best in their Gallagher Premiership opener, despite a 40-6 success.
The Chiefs’ director of rugby said: “We still scored 40 points but we can do better as we left a few tries out there.
“We spurned a couple of chances but kept going and were rewarded in the end.”
Exeter still managed six tries through Sam Simmonds, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade, Matt Kvesic, Ian Whitten and Olly Woodburn, with Gareth Steenson converting five.
Baxter was full of praise for Simmonds and Kvesic, who rivalled each other for the man of the match award.
He continued: “Matt is back to his best even before his Gloucester days. We wanted to sign him when he was at Worcester but couldn’t do so.
“He concentrated too much on the breakdown at Gloucester and forgot his attacking skills but he now looks hungry like a man who has been deprived of food.
“He and Sam gave us targets today; they were a fantastic combination and took some handling on a firm pitch.”
On the final scoreline, Baxter said: “The first half was very tough and it will be a very difficult game at Welford Road when they have had more game time.
“Our players had to work very hard but eventually it paid dividends with two or three tries coming rather easily at the end when they had little to fight for.”
It ended up as another heavy defeat for Tigers at Sandy Park, following on from 31-10 and 30-6 defeats on their last two visits.
This latest setback will raise concern in Leicester’s camp as they fielded virtually a full-strength side but could only manage two penalties from George Ford.
Director of Rugby Matt O’Connor, said: “The first 25 minutes were tasty but it took its toll upon us as they made it count.
“We couldn’t get any field position and it showed that some of our players lacked 40 or 60 minutes of game-time.
“We had a couple of niggles to key players in pre-season and couldn’t risk them but we are still disappointed that we gave away a lot of points at the back end as the game was closer than the final score would suggest.”
Next up for Leicester is a home game against Newcastle, which will have a major impact on whether Tigers recover from this mauling to have a decent season.
O’Connor added: “It’s an enormous game as they deprived us of a European spot at the end of last season.
“There’s a lot to play for but we have to make sure that we are better.”
