The incident is the first blip in Ridl’s short, but impressive first team career at Exeter.
Having broken his hand in pre-season the England Under-20 international made a try-scoring debut in the Prem Rugby Cup win over Bristol in November.
He impressed the following week as a much-changed Chiefs side were held to a draw at Racing 92 before starting the next three Prem games – including scoring a try in the victory over Leicester just after Christmas.
“He’s got a very good rugby background at school level in South Africa, played at a very good rugby school, played within their first-team structure there, so he’s probably had a little bit more high-end rugby than people think,” added Baxter.
“But I do think actually he’s really got his head around being a professional sportsman in the last six months or so, and that’s obviously what’s catapulted him into having the potential to come into the group and play well and do well.
“It’s getting your head around everything and not expecting the process to get you there, and I keep saying this to the young guys – being within an academy structure or being within a professional rugby structure isn’t what gets you to being a good first team player, it’s what you do within those systems and those opportunities.
“The guys who really embrace it and grab it tend to be the guys who come through, the other guys who kind of wait to be delivered at the end of the process rarely do come through.”
