Rob Baxter: 'Exeter Chiefs were taught a lesson by Northampton Saints'

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has expressed his frustration at his side's poor start to the season against Northampton Saints.

The Devon outfit were thrashed 38-11 by last year's finalists at Franklin's Gardens on the opening day of the new Aviva Premiership campaign.

"I thought we got taught a lesson in the first half," Baxter told reporters. "I'm not going to take anything away from Northampton because they were a very clinical side in that first half and a lot more clinical than we were at any stage.

"They virtually took every opportunity that was out there on the pitch for them. Some of them they created themselves, but others we gifted them and it's frustrating to look at some of the tries we conceded and then see where they came from and the mistakes we made.

"Far too often we gave them easy releases, and as good a team as Northampton are, what you have to do is put them under pressure and make a game of rugby difficult for them. There wasn't a lot we did in that first half that made it difficult for them."

Exeter host London Wasps at Sandy Park on Saturday.