Gareth Steenson helps Exeter Chiefs make a perfect start

As Exeter closed in on victory in their first Premiership match and the crowd started to find its voice, the Chiefs' head coach, Rob Baxter, sat impassively in the stand, refusing to get caught in the tide of emotion rolling across Sandy Park. He would have been entitled, given the way Exeter have been written off by pundits and bookies, to have been just a tad demonstrative: thumping the table in the manner of Richard Cockerill or standing and pointing as Brendan Venter has been known to do. He merely sat there quietly, shaking hands with his management team just before the final whistle and looking slightly sheepish as he was backslapped on his way down to the dressing room. Exeter had made the perfect start: it took promoted Leeds until November last season to record their first league victory. The home side's starting line-up contained no full internationals compared to Gloucester's 11 but it was the visitors who had too many chiefs and not enough getting their hands dirty. Baxter appreciated that, well though his side played, outmuscling a team that has always been in the Premiership, at the breakdown and taking most of their scoring opportunities, it was a day when things fell for them: the Gloucester fly-half Nicky Robinson missed five kicks, worth 13 points, at goal and two tries were ruled out because of forward passes, rare examples of the Cherry and Whites holding on to passes on an afternoon when all that dropped for them was the ball. "If any of my players had suggested doing a lap of honour, I would have thrown them into the changing room," said Baxter. "It was not a cup final, merely the start of a long campaign. Today was fantastic but we will only have something to celebrate when we secure our place in the Premiership next season. I am very aware of how many points Gloucester missed: they were off form and it will get tougher." Starting at Leicester on Saturday, but the celebration today was because the Chiefs were staging a Premiership match. Their chief executive, Tony Rowe, had paced around nervously two hours before the kick-off as he waited to greet the Gloucester chairman, Tom Walkinshaw, who had been held up on the M5. Rowe, who has invested substantially in the Chiefs, had planned for life in the top flight for 12 years and had little time for the many who predicted their stay would be a short one. "We are survivors," he said. "Who fancied Leeds would stay up last season? Not many of our players are well known and people are going to find out what they are made of. This is where we want to be and I am so nervous I did not get any sleep last night." Exeter had increased their capacity to nearly 10,750 in the close season, but they fell well short of a sell-out crowd despite the massed ranks of Gloucester supporters on three sides of the ground. The atmosphere had a feral edge when the Chiefs entertained Bristol in last May's play-off final, but it was more muted today, as excitement and anticipation mingled with apprehension. Even when Exeter led 16-5 at half-time there was a froth of emotion. Gloucester had been like a guest at a wedding turning up with the entire present list, missing all their kicks at goal, handling as if it were a wet day rather than a sunny one, blowing two tries through forward passes and slipping off numerous tackles. Exeter took four minutes to score their first Premiership points. They ran a free-kick and worked space on the left for the former Gloucester wing Mark Foster to dive over. Gloucester hit back after Foster was penalised for not releasing after a tackle, the visitors forcing a scrum and working a blind-side move that finished with James Simpson-Daniel scoring. Robinson missed two penalties and Gareth Steenson landed two and Gloucester went into the interval 16-5 down after Luke Narraway's try was ruled out because of Pierre Capdevielle's forward pass. A penalty was awarded as consolation but Robinson hit the post. Tim Taylor scored Gloucester's second try 15 minutes after the break, but another Steenson penalty and a drop goal kept Exeter firmly in control. The visitors worked openings but kept throwing forward passes. "Unacceptable" and "embarrassing" was how the Gloucester director of rugby, Bryan Redpath, summed up his side's display and he was not overstating his case, as Baxter well appreciated. Exeter may dare to dream but they remain realists.