EXETER head coach Rob Baxter saluted the display of Bath winger Semesa Rokoduguni after his side pulled off a first Aviva Premiership win at the Rec.

Two George Ford penalties and a try by Rokoduguni seemingly had Bath set for victory and they appeared well in control until a 62nd-minute Gareth Steenson penalty kick-started Exeter's challenge.

It took two tries from James Short in the final 10 minutes to snatch a 17-11 victory, gaining revenge for a last-gasp Bath win at Sandy Park two months ago to move the Chiefs above Bath into third place.

"Rokoduguni was almost unplayable," added Baxter. "It was like Harry Potter had given him his cloak of invisibility - we couldn't lay a hand on him.

"But the only thing we talked about at half-time was attitude - nothing tactical or technical. You can't come away from home in a top-four contest and lose the physical battle. We were losing it everywhere.

"I must congratulate the players because it was massively down to attitude in the second half. On Monday, we've got to ask ourselves: why wasn't it there at the start?"

Baxter added: "As a team we want us to move on from this. The reality of where we are as a club is that we were in a Premiership final last year. And if you've been to a Premiership final, your aim shouldn't be about winning at Bath for the first time, should it?

"I'm glad we've knocked it off now. We've got to talk about what it will take to win the whole competition. It might be this year, or next year. It's no longer about nice little milestones. I want us to push beyond that and that's the mentality shift we need to make."

Bath head coach Todd Blackadder accepted that losing three props to suspected head injuries had been a key factor in that shift of momentum after they conceded the last try a man short because of rules on front-row substitutions.

"I would have thought so, especially with the new safety protocols in place," he said. "You can't cheat or get away with those sort of things any more. It's something that perhaps needs to be looked at further down the track.

"It was a shame to lose our props because we certainly had scrum dominance there and when you go down to 14 men with 10 minutes to go, it just makes it even harder.

"It was a really clinical performance up to the hour mark - probably some of our best attack, a lot of line breaks. I thought we defended really well. It was pretty faultless.

"Exeter hung in there very well and took their chances. I tip my hat to them."

One of the casualties was loosehead Nathan Catt, who took to the field unaware that he had been called up to England coach Eddie Jones' 33-man squad ahead of the Six Nations.

Blackadder added: "It's just one of those things you can't control. The time he was out there, he played really well. It shows he's been playing some great rugby and been in good form to get the call up. We're very proud of him. It's just a shame to lose him."