EXETER Chiefs’ play-off hopes took a serious hit at Kingsholm as Rob Baxter admitted his side were “beaten physically” in a bruising 38-31 defeat to Gloucester that leaves their top four push under real pressure.

The Chiefs were overpowered for long spells in a one-sided first half – with Baxter pointing to a lack of intensity and edge as the decisive factor in a result that dents momentum at a crucial stage of the season.

He also defended his selection policy after rotating key forwards ahead of this weekend’s European Challenge Cup semi-final against Ulster, insisting he had little alternative given player welfare demands and fixture congestion.

“This is my challenge, especially with us fighting on various fronts. Both Zambo [Andrea Zambonin] and Daf [Dafydd Jenkins] played throughout the Six Nations, Bachuki Tchumbadze also played for Georgia during that period, I can’t keep picking them, the rules don’t allow me to.

“Because we’re progressing in the cups, these games start adding up. Sometimes it’s not just a selection thing, I just can’t do it. That’s just something we’ve got to be able to deal with better.

“I was disappointed with some of the guy who came in today - and they’ll clearly be disappointed with themselves - but at the same time, we showed real character to come back and get two points from the game.”

From the outset, the Chiefs struggled to impose themselves physically. They did start brightly, with flanker Ross Vintcent crashing over inside two minutes, but that early score masked what quickly became a dominant Gloucester display.

Centre Max Llewellyn opened the floodgates with a powerful finish, before Tomos Williams sniped over as the home side dictated tempo and territory with growing authority.

Gloucester’s physical edge told again when Llewellyn added his second try, punishing passive Chiefs defence that failed to match the intensity of the contest.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso responded with a direct, forceful score for the visitors, but Gloucester continued to win collisions and momentum, with Will Trenholm powering over before the break after sustained pressure.

Baxter was blunt about the physical mismatch at half-time, as his side trailed heavily and were forced into damage limitation mode.

The Chiefs showed more bite after the restart. Feyi-Waboso produced a dazzling slalom run to unlock the defence and create the platform for No.8 Greg Fisilau to score, briefly lifting hopes of a comeback.

But Gloucester responded every time the Chiefs threatened to build momentum. George Barton added a penalty before Trenholm crossed for his second try just past the hour mark, restoring control.

The Chiefs refused to fold. A driving maul earned a penalty try, with Dian Bleuler sin-binned, before Henry Slade crossed after a TMO review that sparked frustration among the home crowd and narrowed the gap to a single score.

However, Gloucester’s physical dominance reasserted itself late on, forcing errors as the Chiefs attempted to play from deep. To compound a difficult afternoon, Exeter’s Ethan Roots was shown a red card in the final play of the game for striking former team-mate Jack Innard.

Baxter added: “We’ve shown good character. We won the second half and ended up with two points, battled our way through some difficult scenarios to maintain those two points – which ultimately could be crucial – but at the same time I’m disappointed with how we turned up today.”