Exeter boss Rob Baxter says he takes “full responsibility” for his side’s 66-14 thrashing by Leicester in the Prem Rugby Cup final.
The Chiefs conceded 10 tries as a youthful side were no match for the hosts.
It was a rare blowout for an Exeter side that have been competitive all season as they look to reverse the disappointment of last campaign which was the worst top-flight season in their history.
“I take full responsibility. I selected that group of players to go out and do a job,” Baxter told BBC Radio Devon.
“I thought we’d have more in us than we showed today, but it kind of shows you that sometimes changing the team quite a lot in a week maybe just didn’t work.”
With one eye on the return of Prem action and the visit of Sale to Sandy Park on Saturday (15:05 GMT) Baxter rested many of his frontline players.
He will also have a number of internationals back following the end of the Six Nations as fifth-placed Exeter look to return to the play-offs for the first time since 2021.
“A lot of these guys are still going to be involved in that 23,” Baxter added.
“Yes we’ve got some internationals back, yes we’ve got some rested up guys, we’ve got a couple of injured guys back.
“But ultimately these guys are going to have to play a lot better than that if we’re going to have even any chance when we play Sale.
“If we let this slap in the face keep us slapped it’s going be a tough week next week and we’ve got to bounce back from that pretty quickly.”
