“It’s been one of those years you don’t want to end,” were the words of Rob Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, after this victory. Indeed it ended in a very typically Chiefs sort of way: the crowd sniffing blood, a grand old unstoppable maul, a try and a bonus point. They finished 2017 ten points ahead of the rest of the field. Leicester end the year in ninth. The statistic that really strikes, though, is not even the six defeats on…

Source: The Times January 01, 2018 00:02 UTC