Baxter criticises 'madness' of Premiership schedule

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored two of Exeter's seven tries in their win over Harlequins

Exeter boss Rob Baxter says giving Harlequins six days between their European Champions Cup semi-final loss at Toulouse and their match away to his team was "absolute madness".

Exeter beat Quins 58-26 at Sandy Park on Saturday, with Baxter's side running away with the game in the second half after the scores were tied 21-21 at half-time.

Quins went down 38-26 at Toulouse on the previous Sunday and the loss at Sandy Park opened the race for a play-off place wide open.

Exeter had a similar six-day turnaround from their quarter-final loss at Toulouse last month and suffered a 26-14 loss at home to Bath in their following fixture.

"I spoke to a couple of their coaches afterwards and said 'no-one appreciates more than I do how hard it is to come back from a Sunday in Toulouse to play on Saturday' and the Premiership calendar doesn't help English teams in Europe," Baxter told BBC Radio Devon.

"If we'd have got to the semi-final we'd have still had to play Gloucester on the Sunday pre going to play Toulouse.

"It's just madness, it's just absolute madness what we do.

"We suffered against Bath and we've taken advantage of it today."

The victory moved Exeter into fifth place in the Premiership table, level on points with sixth-placed Quins.

The Chiefs go to Leicester on the final day of the season while Harlequins host seventh-placed Bristol.

Should Sale lose to Saracens or Bath fail to get a bonus point at home to Northampton - who have already secured a home semi-final - Exeter, Harlequins or Bristol could make the top four.

For Exeter's new-look side it means an exciting end to a season that has seen a mix of high and lows.

"This is all I could ask for," said Baxter.

"Even two or three weeks ago I was at home saying to my wife 'if we can just get into that last couple of games with something worth fighting for is going to be incredible'.

"So to go into the last week with something worth fighting for is going to be amazing.

"It makes the whole season worthwhile for us, and I just hope we get plenty of support up there and I hope we can get our feet on the ground quickly enough to make sure we get up there and at least do ourselves proud."