Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter was far from satisfied with his side’s performance despite the Chiefs maintaining their impressive start to the season with a fifth consecutive win by defeating Worcester 28-11 at Sandy Park.
Exeter were nowhere near their best but still managed to pick up a bonus point by scoring four tries.
Dave Ewers scored of them, Jack Yeandle and Harry Williams one apiece, with Gareth Steenson converting all four.
“We need to be picky as the second half was the sloppiest of the season as we wasted 30 minutes of rugby where we could have prepared for the challenges that lie ahead,” Baxter said.
“Again we didn’t start quickly but went through the gears to score three tries but after that we didn’t progress as individuals.
“I’m very pleased with the win and the foundation that we have laid down but we are not firing at one hundred per cent and I’m concerned that we won’t be able to shake out of that lethargy when we are challenged by the best.”
The best is likely to come in the next three weeks as Exeter face a tough away league encounter at Bath before European ties against Munster and Castres.
“We’ll celebrate the win tonight and have a beer but the season will be defined as to whether we reach semi-finals or further in the competitions,” Baxter added.
Two penalties from Chris Pennell and a try from Ted Hill were Worcester’s response as they now have their eyes firmly set on next week’s crucial home game with Premiership newcomers, Bristol, which director of rugby Alan Solomons accepted would be a crucial game.
“The Premiership is not a sprint but we would like to finish this block of fixtures with a win before our home crowd,” he said.
“We will have Nick Schonert, Bryce Heem and Francois Venter back and with an eight-day turnaround, we’ll really need to prepare.
“Exeter had too much power for us today but we had a good 20-25 minutes and full marks to their defence for keeping us out.
“They then scored three power tries and we were 21-3 down but we showed resolve and resilience to pull it back to 21-11 before Ryan Bower was sin-binned.
“There were a lot of positives to take but Exeter fully deserved to win as they and Saracens are ahead of the rest and the league is a two horse race.”
