EXETER Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter insisted his side’s agonising last‑gasp defeat at Bath was further proof of how far the Chiefs have surged this season, despite the sting of watching a remarkable comeback fall just short.

Arthur Green’s try in the final minute sealed a 33‑26 win for the defending Gallagher Premiership champions at the Rec, denying Exeter what would have been one of the league’s great escape acts.

The Chiefs had trailed 26‑0 after a catastrophic opening spell, but hauled themselves level in the final five minutes, only to see victory snatched away at the death.

For Baxter, the result hurt. But the performance, he argued, underlined a transformation few predicted after last year’s struggles.

The contrast in the space of 12 months is certainly stark. Exeter won only four league games last season, finishing second‑from‑bottom, the worst Premiership finish in the club’s history. However, this campaign, they sit third with six wins from nine, just four points behind leaders Northampton Saints and two adrift of Bath.

“At the start of the season, if someone had said we’d be disappointed with two points away at Bath in a top‑four clash, you’d take that every day of the week,” Baxter said. “We’re a team that’s growing. We’re not going backwards, we’re not ageing. We’re the right age range and we’re getting experience into players.”

That youth movement was on full display – for better and worse. The match swung violently in the second minute when 20‑year‑old winger Campbell Ridl mistimed his leap and collided with Henry Arundell in the air. The challenge earned him a 20‑minute red card and left Exeter a man down during Bath’s early onslaught.

The hosts showed no mercy. In Ridl’s absence, Bath ran in four tries through Beno Obano, Alfie Barbeary, Santiago Carreras and Ollie Lawrence, ruthlessly exploiting the space and building a 26‑0 lead that looked insurmountable.

But once restored to 15 men, Exeter roared back, initially with scores from Joseph Dweba and Olly Woodburn, then second half scores from Greg Fisilau and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Their fightback was ferocious, built on power, tempo and a refusal to fold. Baxter believes that response, not the early collapse, is the true measure of where his side now stand.

“Actually, we can work from this in a lot of positive ways,” he said. “We can assess what we’re going to do against yellow cards off set‑piece, how we get organised when it’s a back down. Knock one try off that 20‑minute period, maybe get some field position to knock a penalty over, and you’re looking at a totally different game.”

Ridl, who has endured a turbulent start to his senior career, was at the centre of the post‑match discussion. Baxter defended the young winger, stressing the incident was clumsy rather than malicious.

“He’s got his eyes up in the air and he just doesn’t judge it at all,” Baxter said. “It’s completely accidental, but completely wrong as well. He’s just got it all wrong.

“That has hurt us today, but at the same time it created a rugby spectacle when we got back in it. Bigger picture, get two points in a top‑four battle and you’ll take it nine times out of ten.”