An emotional Rob Baxter opens up about incredible rugby journey after Champions Cup title win
An emotional Rob Baxter showed his softer side after Exeter’s sensational Champions Cup victory over Racing 92 in the final of the European tournament.
The normally emotionless Exeter leader seemed to let all his emotions out as he spoke openly about how tough some of the past seasons have been for the Devon-based club.
The team were in fine spirits in the changing room after that last-minute win over the super-rich Parisian club.
🎤 The @ExeterChiefs boys are happy 🎶 pic.twitter.com/pKDPA6Zw1G
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) October 17, 2020
The final had produced eight tries with more than a quarter of the match remaining, yet Exeter’s lead was just four points. A Machenaud penalty cut the gap to a point, setting up a thrilling finale that saw Exeter’s replacement prop Tomas Francis sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.
It meant that Exeter finished the game with 14 men, and they had to survive a prolonged spell of Racing pressure as the clock ticked down.
It was a breathless, spellbinding contest but Exeter somehow held on, with Simmonds kicking an 80th-minute penalty as the Chiefs claimed their first European title with an unforgettable 31-27 victory.
The head coach for Exeter was surprisingly emotional as he spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live as he spoke about the unbelievable support that he received from his family, and in particular, his wife.
Lovely stuff from Rob Baxter to @5livesport after Exeter’s Euro triumph.
‘It’s not always been nice and it’s not always been easy… but I feel really privileged to be part of a rugby club that is never going to go away.’ pic.twitter.com/HoHfPSNK9n
— Chris Jones BBC (@chjones9) October 17, 2020
Exeter now go into a Premiership final against Wasps hoping that they can achieve that double in both domestic and European tournaments, an achievement only a handful of clubs around of Europe have managed to achieve!
