AFTER a season to forget, Rob Baxter has drawn a definitive line in the sand.

Less than an hour after seeing his side bring the curtain down on their worse-ever Premiership Rugby campaign, the Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby was looking to the future, not reflecting on the past.

A final-day 30-26 loss at home to the Sale Sharks condemned the Devonians to a 14th league defeat of the season and underlined the trouble and strife that has lingered around Sandy Park all season.

In many ways it’s been a season to forget. Long-serving coaches Ali Hepher and Rob Hunter have both departed in recent weeks following a record-breaking 79-17 loss to Gloucester, while defence coach Omar Mouneimne was another culled back in October following the club’s calamitous start to the new season.

A plethora of first team players are also heading for pastures new this summer, such is the desperate need for an overhaul on all fronts.

After watching his Chiefs side drift through an underwhelming campaign that lacked the fire, precision and identity that once made them champions, Baxter is demanding a sharper, ruthless return to the standards that defined the club’s rise to greatness.

The club’s tumble from title contenders to divisional also-rans is not something he intends to tolerate again.

This season has been brutal. Results were inconsistent. Performances, at times, lifeless. For a club built on relentlessness and cohesion, the Chiefs often looked unrecognisable – a team caught between eras. But now, there’s no time left for excuses. No nostalgia. No sentimentality.

“I’m not going to refer to this season at all,” said Baxter. “What I’m going to refer to is my expectations of them going forward.

“All I’ve referred to in the last three or four weeks is that my expectations of them are higher than their expectations of themselves are. I’m not going to lower my expectations, so they have to raise theirs, and if they catch up with me they’ll be winning trophies, they’ll be winning in Europe, and they’ll be doing all the things that they could do.”

Certainly, the winds of change have been clearly evident in the past month or so. On-field performances have improved markedly – as shown against the Sharks, who despite leading 20-5 at the break – were then pegged back by their hosts who, on another day, could easily have taken the victory.

Baxter’s own demeanour has changed significantly. His tough-talking replies – both before and after games – are a timely reminder that talk is cheap and that he wants edge; he wants competition and, most of all, he wants accountability from himself, his staff and every player who wears the badge.

“There’s no secret formula,” he says. “You work hard. You show up every day with intensity. You don’t wait for someone else to fix things – you fix them yourself. That’s what we’re getting back to.”

Baxter has always trusted in the culture of the club to lead the way, but even culture needs teeth. The standards that made the Chiefs great were non-negotiable: physicality, clarity, trust and a deep commitment to the shirt. That’s what’s on the line now. Reputation won’t be enough. Passion alone won’t cut it. Only actions – repeated, relentless actions – will restore them to where they belong.

“We showed so many qualities today that are good rugby qualities and have nothing to do with technique or style of play, we need to get good rugby qualities in the team first,” added Baxter. “They don’t change whatever generation you play in – or whatever rules you play to – so we need to get them in place, then we can play how we like.”

To hear Baxter speak now is to feel the heat returning to the fire. The man who stood stoic through both triumph and turbulence is no longer in reflective mode. He is, quite clearly, in full battle mode. Pre-season won’t be about easing back into it – it will be about forging an identity again. One that made Exeter a feared side, not a forgotten one.

“We are starting again and for me, the future looks very bright,” said Baxter. “The only reason I’m glad this season is over is I’m now looking forward to starting at 0-0 with everybody else next season and seeing where we are.”