New season a chance for Exeter Chiefs ‘reset’ – Rob Baxter

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter said the new Gallagher Prem season is a chance for his side to have a “reset” after last year’s poor campaign.

The Chiefs finished second from bottom, winning just four matches, as they recorded the worst top-flight season in their history.

It was the fourth successive season that Exeter failed to reach the Premiership final, having reached the previous six.

Long-serving coaches Ali Hepher and Rob Hunter have left the club, while a number of high-profile signings, such as Australians Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper, have come in.

“It obviously feels different, because it is,” Baxter told BBC Sport.

“We’ve got a different group working in the coach’s office, there are some different players involved in the squad.

“We’ve probably a little bit of a different approach to pre-season, and we’re trying some new stuff on the field, but for me it feels pretty fresh.

“The one thing I’d like to think is if I was a player and been involved in last season I couldn’t wait for this season to start and get on and show what I want to be about and how I want to be seen by people around the game.

“So for us, I think it’s just an opportunity for us to kind of reset where we want to be seen within the game really.”