Exeter must keep up their momentum, assistant coach Ali Hepher has said in the wake of their third straight Aviva Premiership win.
Assistant coach aims for Chiefs to continue winning run
Exeter must keep up their momentum, assistant coach Ali Hepher has said in the wake of their third straight Aviva Premiership win.
The Chiefs notched up a 24-19 victory over Sale at Sandy Park on Saturday with tries from Chris Budgen, Tom Johnson and Andrew Higgins.
But, while Hepher was pleased with the result, he said there were a number of elements in his side's game that they needed to work on.
"We were pleased to get the win," he said. "Obviously any Premiership game is hard fought but we probably made it a little harder than we should have done.
"But the boys are getting the points on the table though there is still have a long way to go this season.
"We gave away a few silly penalties which cost us but otherwise we were in control of the game.
Dangerous
"We need to smarten up a little as we played a little too deep but we made that adjustment in the second half when we played a lot flatter which took away their line speed.
"When we carried hard we made great inroads and when we picked up from the base of rucks we looked dangerous. The disappointing thing was not getting the try-scoring bonus point.
"It shows how far we've come this season when we can be disappointed that we didn't get that bonus point win.
"We let Sale back in to the game as soon as we got a lead and if we can improve that then we'll be a difficult Premiership side.
"There's still lots to work on and we want to get that bonus-point win because that will be another stage for us.
"But we can't fault the guys' attitude or commitment week in week out, they just put it in and graft hard.
"We've now got three straight Premiership wins. We have got the momentum, the boys are enjoying it, but it is key that we keep that going in a tough game away to London Wasps."
Dismal
Sharks head coach Mike Brewer was critical of his side's performance in a game that he had targeted to win.
"We came here with a certain style that we wanted to play which was based on set-piece," he said.
"But the set-piece in general, but the lineout in particular, was dismal. That was the reason we couldn't execute what we set out to do.
"And when we did get a little bit of ball in the second half we scored a try and again towards the end of the game when we stretched the play across the field.
"In the first half we turned the ball over too soon, our kick-off receipt was poor, guys getting in the wrong position resulted in really poor performance in the first half and let Exeter in to the game.
"When we scored points we gave the ball straight back to them and we knew that they would target us through the middle where we were a little soft earlier in the season.
"Exeter held on to the ball well. They are not pretty but they are very good at what they do. Exeter deserved to win the game because we made too many errors."
