THE bitter taste of Sunday’s 48-14 defeat in the Premiership Rugby Cup final against Bath must now become fuel for Exeter Chiefs as they look to salvage pride in the closing stages of a challenging league campaign.

That was the blunt assessment of skills coach Ricky Pellow, who saw his side’s quest for silverware halted at the final hurdle, leaving the Devonians with only one objective remaining - to finish the Gallagher Premiership season with renewed purpose and determination.

Pellow was forthright in his post-game assessment about the difficulties that have plagued the Chiefs throughout what has been a testing season.

One off the foot of the table in the Premiership, dumped out of the Champions Cup in the pool stages without a win, the Premiership Rugby Cup was seen as the potential lifeline in a campaign which has failed to scale any significant heights so far.

Bath’s dominant second half showing brushed aside the attentions of their top-flight rivals, ensuring they ended their 17-year wait for silverware.

Whilst they celebrated in style at Sandy Park, the Chiefs could only watch on, no doubt reflecting at the missed opportunity.

“We’re super frustrated,” said Pellow. “As a group of coaches and players, we’re hurting because in finals you want to put your best picture out there - and we didn’t do that at all.

“Bath, I have to say, were very good, super clinical and they took their points when they were on offer. That said, we had a couple of killer moments, a couple of tries disallowed, which really derailed us in terms of our momentum in the game.

“We know we have to be better than that, today was really disappointing, just because I don’t think we put our true selves out there.”

Although Bath only led 17-14 at the break, it was their second half showing - one in which they scored 34 unanswered points - that was the most telling statistic.

“It felt a bit like the Gloucester game in the group stages,” added Pellow. “We knew what we needed to do, but when we came under pressure, we just came away from things.

“As we’ve just said downstairs, we’re really disappointed to lose a final but, at the same time, we’ve got to remember the good things we’ve had in this competition. We can’t get away from that.

“Right now, it feels frustrating more than anything, just because we know we can be better than we were. Once we take the emotion out of today and we look back at the group stages and where we were in the Premiership, I think we’ll see some positives.

“We’ll probably now be measured on Bristol away and Newcastle home. If we come away with performances and results there, then this period has been positive. Right now, it’s a tough one to take, but we have to reset and go again.”

However, for a club that has become accustomed to challenging for top honours - with Premiership titles in 2017 and 2020 still fresh in the memory - this campaign represents unfamiliar territory.

“We’ve fallen short of our own standards too often this season,” admitted Pellow. “The frustration from this defeat needs to become our motivation. We have players with immense character in that dressing room, now is the time to show it.”

The Chiefs return to Gallagher Premiership action this Saturday when they travel to Ashton Gate to face Bristol Bears (5.30pm).