Overnight success took Chiefs 13 years!

On Tuesday, Exeter Chiefs celebrate the tenth anniversary of winning promotion to the Premiership. NEALE HARVEY marks that momentous day by talking to two of the main personalities

- NEALE HARVEY

Exeter supremo Rob Baxter believes the same bloody-minded resilience that underpinned his side’s charge into the Premiership ten years ago will continue to fire their ambition.

On May 26, precisely a decade will have elapsed since Exeter triumphed at a rain-soaked Memorial Stadium to achieve their dream of a place in the big time after beating Bristol 29-10.

On the back of a 9-6 win in the first leg at Sandy Park, 24 points from the boot of now-legendary fly-half Gareth Steenson and a late try from hooker Simon Alcott, whose career was sadly cut short by a neck injury three years later, proved more than enough for a 38-16 aggregate win.

While crestfallen Bristol would slide into a rapid decline that almost resulted in bankruptcy before they were rescued by billionaire Steve Lansdown, victory laid the platform for Exeter to make good on the potential that had seen them open their new stadium in 2006.

Ten years after masterminding promotion, Baxter is still at the helm, as is his right-hand man, Ali Hepher, and he is happy to expound on the reasons for their success.

“The important thing is having confidence in knowing what’s important, and some things have never changed,” Baxter told The Rugby Paper.

“We’ve never been afraid to experiment with how we play and we obviously look at how we improve and add to our squad.

“Nor are we afraid to look at opposition teams and take bits that have allowed them to be dominant in the Premiership or Europe, so we’ve proved we can adapt.

“But, overall, we stay true to ourselves and the thing that has probably allowed us to keep progressing has been resilience, because other teams maybe haven’t had that in abundance.”