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Rob Hunter has been suspended by Exeter Chiefs pending a full review after 79-17 defeat by Gloucester - Bob Bradford/CameraSport via Getty Images
The fall-out from Exeter Chiefs’ humiliation at Kingsholm has deepened with two senior coaches leaving the club amid another dramatic backroom overhaul.
After appearing to blast players and management in the changing room following their 79-17 defeat by Gloucester on Sunday evening, Exeter boss Tony Rowe has suspended Rob Hunter and Ali Hepher pending a review into both the match and a disappointing season as a whole.
It was just over a month ago that Hunter, previously a figurehead for England Under-20 who has been at Sandy Park since 2013, was promoted to the position of head coach with the long-serving Hepher stepping down to take over as attack coach. That was with a view to the latter, a veteran of 16 years at Exeter, assuming a different role next season with younger players transitioning to the first-team.
However, that restructure has lasted just four matches; a defeat by Bristol Bears before a last-gasp win over Newcastle Falcons followed by defeats by Bath and Gloucester. Rowe, the Chiefs chairman and chief executive, suggested in a statement that there could be further changes in the wake of this process.
“No final decision regarding the club’s coaching structure going forward has been made, and it would be improper to make any further comment until all internal procedures have been completed,” said Rowe.
For the time being, director of rugby Rob Baxter will return to a front-line coaching role to continue the coaching carousel in Devon. Earlier this season, back in October, defence coach Omar Mouneimne was relieved of his duties after Baxter “felt we needed to head in a new direction defensively” and Haydn Thomas took over that area of the game.
Len Ikitau, the Australia centre, was last week announced as a new Chiefs signing for 2025-26, with Baxter heralding an addition that could prove to be “very special”. The 2024-25 season, though, has already descended into a painful slog for Exeter and there is scope for more setbacks.
Sunday’s debacle was their 12th loss of the Premiership calendar so far and has left them stranded in ninth place, nine points ahead of bottom side Newcastle yet 17 behind eighth-placed Harlequins. Chiefs host Northampton Saints on May 11 before travelling to Harlequins and then finishing a fraught campaign at home against Sale Sharks.
Lewis Ludlow, the Gloucester captain, scored one of his side’s 13 tries at the weekend and credited a dominant performance, at least in part, to some chiding from Exeter prior to the game.
“It was exactly what we wanted to do,” Ludlow said. “We heard a little rumour that somebody in their camp called us soft, so we had to make the point. Every time we got into a huddle it just gave us that little bit of fuel, reminding us that it was said that we had a soft underbelly. Hopefully we proved that wrong today.”
Meanwhile, Hunter labelled the experience as his “worst day as a coach” and acknowledged that Rowe was entitled to “fire into everybody” and deliver a dressing down.
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