BATH director of rugby Todd Blackadder conceded his side has been convincingly beaten despite a late revival in Exeter's 42-29 Aviva Premiership victory at Sandy Park.

The Chiefs shipped four tries in 14 minutes to gift Bath a bonus poin, after Exeter had been overwhelmingly dominant for the first 50 minutes.

Victory was all but secured by half-time as Exeter surged to a 28-3 lead.

They finished with a total of six tries, with Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mitch Lees, James Short, Thomas Waldrom, Gareth Steenson and Don Armand all crossing. Steenson converted all of them.

Bath never looked capable of repeating last season's feat at Sandy Park when they triumphed 13-10, but they still managed tries through Jonathan Joseph, Aled Brew, Matt Banahan and Anthony Watson.

Rhys Priestland converted two, and Joseph one, with Freddie Burns kicking a penalty.

Blackadder said: "Our weaknesses were exposed under pressure and we learned a lot of lessons as we lost all the collisions and didn't stick to our basics.

"We looked out of sorts and at times looked as though we didn't know what to do.

"Their forwards were outstanding in the first half and their back-row trio gave a superb display. It wouldn't have made any difference today if Taulupe Faletau (who was on Wales duty) had been available as it would be hard to imagine a better first-half performance than the one they produced.

"However I am really proud of our second-half effort when we showed a lot of resilience to get a bonus point so it was effectively the same as losing 12-11."

Exeter forwards coach Rob Hunter felt the gloss had been taken off the victory by his side's late switch-off.

Hunter said: "The last 20 minutes were a buzz-killer as we were disappointed to concede a bonus point.

"However for the first 50 or 60 minutes, we were outstanding and possibly our first-half performance was the best of the season so far.

"It was a big fixture for us as any victories we've had over them have been scraped so we needed to get out of the blocks and get ahead.

"Bath normally start well and we don't but we were really accurate as our set-piece was very good and we put real pace on the ball.

"We knew Bath would have a good period in the match and they showed what they could do when our intensity levels dropped.

"It's very difficult to come on as replacements when you are winning by a wide margin as their intensity levels are going up as they've got nothing to lose.