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Exeter full-back Josh Hodge says Rob Baxter has gone “back to basics” after taking control of the playing group.<\/b><\/p>\n
Chiefs director of rugby Baxter has stepped in as acting boss after head coach Rob Hunter left the club<\/a> and backs coach Ali Hepher was suspended.<\/a><\/p>\n The coaching changes came after Exeter’s club-record 79-17 loss at Gloucester<\/a> as the Chiefs continue to endure their worst Premiership season since promotion in 2010.<\/p>\n “As you could see in that Gloucester game, we probably weren’t there with our basics – catching and pass handling errors were quite high,” Hodge told BBC Radio Devon.<\/p>\n “So we’ve stripped it back to basics with Rob, putting in the hard work early on, to then bide ourselves time in attack and get some front-foot ball.<\/p>\n “The boys are working a lot harder now and it’s looking good.”<\/p>\n Hodge, who scored one of Exeter’s three tries in the loss at Kingsholm, and his team-mates have had a fortnight to build up for Sunday’s visit of Northampton.<\/p>\n Chiefs face the reigning Premiership champions a week after Saints recorded a historic European Champions Cup semi-final win<\/a> over Leinster in Dublin.<\/p>\n Hodge is hopeful there will be no repeat of their loss at Gloucester in their first run-out in front of home fans since their Kingsholm humbling.<\/p>\n “I think we’re just at a point in the season where we need to come together as a playing group,” Hodge added.<\/p>\n “You see the teams that are doing well in the Premiership and they’re a tightly connected playing group.<\/p>\n “The players should be joined together working towards the same goal, and I think we were probably just off on that day and just got outplayed.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n