HE may only have been in office a few weeks, but already you get the feeling that Rob Hunter’s vision for the future at Exeter Chiefs is starting to take shape at Sandy Park.

The 52-year-old Northumbrian has been part and parcel of the Chiefs make-up since 2013, predominantly in the guise of the club’s forwards club, helping them to win a glut of trophies along the way.

More recently, Hunter has been elevated to head coach, taking over from long-time friend Ali Hepher, and tasked with developing a new-look crop of Chiefs into another formidable force.

The changing of the tide comes after a difficult season for the Devonians who – in past years – would be fighting for the Premiership play-offs, not trying to avoid picking up the division’s wooden spoon.

It underlines, however, the drop-off the club have faced since losing a glut of household names in the wake of their historic double back in 2020. In the years that have followed, they have had to cut their cloth accordingly as debts accrued during the Covid pandemic hit hard.

The changing of the guard has meant the Chiefs have had to blood numerous youngsters into the heat of battle. It’s not been easy, as Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, has testified on numerous occasions.

However, there are shoots of recovery, as outlined in a spirited second half showing against table-toppers Bath on Saturday.

Although the Chiefs eventually came up two points adrift, having trailed 26-10 at the break, Hunter was right to acknowledge a mix of emotions as he addressed the media following full time.

“It’s a really hard one to sum up,” he said. “I’m really, really proud of the guys and really pleased with our performance on the whole. At the same time, I’m also gutted that we didn't quite get it over the line. I think it would have been great for the guys and I think it would have been great for the fans and supporters as well.

“However, Bath are a great team and they're such a difficult challenge, they're such a together group. They really are the sort of standard to aspire to at the moment. The key thing for us is to take the learning out of that – and actually take the learning out of it – rather than just talking about it and just keep improving.

“I think we've improved massively over the last couple of weeks and it was a huge step up from where we were in the game here two weeks ag against Newcastle. I’m just so excited to keep pushing forward with this group.”

Indeed, the stark contrast in performances was clear to see, even if it took until half time for the Chiefs to really kick into life. Johann van Graan’s Bath side dominated the opening 40 minutes, wrapping up the try bonus with relative ease.

What followed, though, was a spirited show of defiance from the Chiefs, one which Hunter and his fellow coaches will be keen to highlight, not just this week, but longer term as a foundation from which they can build.

“We know where we want to be and it's going to a long, pretty steep incline, but we're taking some pretty big steps up it very quickly.”

England star Henry Slade slotted the Chiefs into an early lead with a third-minute penalty only for the visitors to counter with a penalty try, this after home skipper Dafydd Jenkins had cynically infringed just yards from his try-line.

The Welshman was dispatched to the sidelines with a yellow card, but he watched on as his team-mates regained the lead, Greg Fisilau’s quick thinking with a penalty catching Bath napping and allowing Jack Yeandle to power his way over for the score.

Jenkins duly returned to the fray, but it was Bath who would dominate for the remainder of the half, hooker Niall Annett adding their second try from a well-drilled line-out move, before Josh Bayliss got in on the scoring act, rounding off a slick attack which dissected the Sandy Park surface.

Not done there, the visitors wrapped up the bonus point when winger Will Muir was able to coast over, finishing off solid approach work from the lively Ben Spencer.

Adrift 16 points at the break, the Chiefs knew they had to come out firing on the resumption. It was, however, Bath who again threatened, launching a series of initial raids towards the home line. Exeter, to their credit, stood firm, producing a defensive display that not only repelled their rivals, but gave them impetus to attack themselves.

Winger Paul Brown-Bampoe instigated the fightback with a try set-up by a searing burst from Josh Hodge; then he repeated the feat after the combined efforts of Will Haydon-Wood and Slade to send him crashing over.

In a hectic final quarter, both sides have chances to add to their tally, but it was Bath who masterfully saw out the dying moments, putting them within sight of home advantage in the play-offs next month.

Chiefs: J Hodge; B Hammersley (W Haydon-Wood 57), H Slade, J Hawkins (W Rigg 75), P Brown-Bampoe; H Skinner, T Cairns (N Armstrong 50); S Sio (K Blose 50), J Yeandle (M Norey 50), M Street (J Roots 50); R Tuima, D Jenkins (capt); M Moloney (J Vermeulen 50), R Capstick (R Vintcent 57), G Fisilau.

Tries: Yeandle, Brown-Bampoe (2); Conversions: Slade (2)

Bath: T de Glanville; R McConnochie, M Ojomoh (L Schreuder 60), C Redpath, W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (capt); F van Wyk (B Obano 50), N Annett (T Dunn 50), T du Toit (W Stuart 50); E Richards (R Molony 50), C Ewels (T Hill 50); J Bayliss, M Reid, A Green (A Barbeary 50).

Tries: Penalty, Annett, Bayliss, Muir; Conversions: Russell (2)

Referee: A Woodthorpe.

Attendance: 13,611