Exeter showed signs of old in comeback - Baxter

Rob Baxter led Exeter to Prem glory in 2017 and 2020

Director of rugby Rob Baxter says there were a few glimmers of the Exeter Chiefs of old in their dramatic comeback win over Sale Sharks.

Exeter scored 21 unanswered points in the last 30 minutes at the CorpAcq Stadium to respond from being 26-6 down and snatch victory by a single point.

The result allowed the Chiefs to leapfrog Northampton at the top of the Prem table on points difference, ahead of Saints' game at Bristol Bears later on Saturday (17:45 GMT).

It was also a first Prem away win since April 2024, so Baxter knows it was a huge step forward.

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'That's it, we've clicked and turned a corner," he said.

"But the one thing I will say is during those eight, 10 years, we won a lot of games like tonight, where you felt we would outscore the opposition in the second half.

"I'd like to think that becomes part of our DNA. We're still a team that needs a little bit of belief and a little bit of growth in us, and hopefully today will have helped in that."

'Top four teams stay competitive'

In the six seasons between 2015 and 2021, Exeter were champions of England twice and runners-up on the other four occasions.

While in 2020, they became European champions when they defeated French side Racing 92 in the final.

However, since losing in the Prem final in 2021, Exeter have failed to make the play-offs in any of the last four seasons and last season dropped as low as ninth.

But it is now only one loss in their opening six games in the Prem this season and the comeback at Sale was their second impressive one on the road, having come from 33-7 down at Northampton Saints to draw their opening game 33-33.

And after a first Prem away in 13 games, Baxter believes the Chiefs are developing a steely determination as they battle to return to their former glories.

"A team that wants to be in the top four, you get something out of nearly every game," he added.

"You get it by hook or by crook, with tries, losing bonus points. You get it by staying competitive the whole game.

"I'm looking at the first half wondering 'How have we won this game?' But when we had a team for seven or eight years who seemed to come through anything, it felt like that a lot.

"When you look back, you never remember the tight ones, but we used to win a lot of tight games. You win a lot of games in The Prem by being the last team to score and it's nice when it's us."