It was a result no Exeter supporter—or any Premiership rugby watcher—can forget: Gloucester 79-17 Exeter. The Chiefs, two-time former Premiership winners and 2020 European champions, shipped 13 tries in 69 minutes as a season that had been bad turned catastrophic.
The defeat became the catalyst for major changes at Sandy Park. Footage of chairman Tony Rowe giving his players a piece of his mind in the changing room went viral, and long-serving coaches Rob Hunter and Ali Hepher lost their jobs.
On Sunday, Exeter return to Kingsholm, 364 days on from that humbling, hoping they have put their worst-ever top-flight season firmly behind them.
"To be honest, it's still fresh in my mind, and I think it will stay in my mind for a long time," Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter told BBC Radio Devon. "I'm not going to run away from that because we've got to make sure that doesn't happen again."
'You need to hit bottom before you can start climbing back up'
The Chiefs were four tries down inside 20 minutes and trailed 43-7 at half-time after letting in seven first-half tries. Gloucester, who had been the first side Exeter beat outside Premiership Rugby Cup matches last season on 29 December, were in no mood to take their foot off the gas, running in another six tries to register their biggest-ever league win while inflicting the Devon side's worst loss.
Exeter's defeat came after an awful season in Europe, culminating in a 69-17 loss to Bordeaux that surpassed their record defeat in European competition.
"I think sometimes you just need something very abrupt," said Baxter. "The old saying is you need to hit the bottom before you can start climbing back up again, and I think the whole day created that."
Baxter had seen his side go from perennial title challengers—they made six consecutive Premiership finals from 2016 to 2021—into a team that won only two games against 'full-strength' opponents last season. Exeter beat bottom side Newcastle 17-15 at home, while wins over Saracens and Northampton came when those opponents were without their international stars.
"The challenge is you've got to decide how you confront it, and for me personally, I just confronted it honestly with what I thought we needed to do," Baxter said.