“I think the boys can be very proud of the growth that is starting to happen in the team – because you don’t come here and perform that well by accident.”

Rugby can deal heartbreak in the narrowest of margins, but in the immediate aftermath of Exeter Chiefs’ agonising 43-40 Champions Cup defeat to Toulouse, Director of Rugby Rob Baxter refused to let Henry Slade’s missed last-minute penalty define the narrative.

Instead, the Chiefs boss took a philosophical view of an 83-point thriller that will surely go down as an all-time European classic. Speaking shortly after the final whistle, Baxter opted first to praise the resilience of the reigning French champions, who were forced to play 64 minutes with 14 men following Rodrigue Neti’s early red card.

“First off, I think the first thing you’ve got to say is, almost well done to Toulouse,” Baxter conceded. “That’s an early red card. They played a long time with 14 men, 60 minutes, and I thought we were pretty good today and they still managed to see that through and got a very important win.

“So, fair play to them because we put them under some pressure and they lived through it. It’s really important you give them the credit for it because I think we played well, but we have come up a little bit short.”

Exeter certainly pushed the champions to the absolute brink. Zack Wimbush, drafted into the side amid an injury crisis, crossed for a sublime hat-trick, while Stephen Varney and Will Butt added to an attacking display that had the Stadium de Toulouse holding its collective breath. Yet, guided by the peerless Antoine Dupont, Toulouse somehow weathered the Devon storm.

While the devastation of Slade’s late miss will undoubtedly sting, Baxter was quick to contextualise the sheer magnitude of the occasion for his developing squad.

“We’ll probably look back and we’ll rue a few missed opportunities that we created,” Baxter admitted. “But if you’re going to talk about what the European Cup is about, it’s about days like today. And we played a full part in a really, really incredible game of rugby.

"We’re a little disappointed and a little frustrated we didn’t get more out of the game, but in the growth of us as a team and where we want to go and where we want to be competing in Europe, this was a pretty good game.

“The boys are disappointed for the right reasons. It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s not that long ago when you played in the Champions Cup, that if Toulouse were in your pool, you went away and you picked up a point, you had done more than enough to keep yourself really competitive in the pool, because that would show you were a good enough team to win your home games.

“Then you’d be ready to have a right go at Toulouse when they turned up at your place. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work like that now – and we don’t get to have a go at them at home, which I would love.

“But we do have a couple more home games and we have collected a very valuable point here.

“I think the boys can be very proud of the growth that is starting to happen in the team – because you don’t come here and perform that well by accident.”