Exeter Chiefs swing axe after ‘unacceptable’ Premiership defeat as coaching duo ‘suspended’
Rob Hunter (left) and Ali Hepher (right) have both served as Chiefs head coach this season
Exeter Chiefs have swung the coaching axe yet again this season, with head coach Rob Hunter and backs coach Ali Hepher suspended pending a full review.
The Devonians fell to a heavy 79-17 defeat to Gloucester on Sunday, their worst since promotion to the Premiership.
This comes just four weeks after Hunter was promoted from forwards coach to head coach, and also follows on from the dramatic sacking of former defence coach Omar Mouneimne earlier this season.
Exeter Chiefs suspend coaching duo
The news of Hunter’s and Hepher’s suspension also follows the dramatic scenes of club chairman and CEO, Tony Rowe, dressing down the players in the changing rooms after the loss.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Exeter dressing room 🪰
Club Director Tony Rowe shares his feelings with the squad after a record defeat.#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/sVs2DGPobq
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 27, 2025
“Tony is entirely right to come into the changing room and fire into everybody,” Hunter said after the defeat at Kingsholm. “He puts a lot of time and effort into the club, and his and everyone else’s expectations should be way higher than that (performance).”
That, it turned out, was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Rowe has now taken action.
“No final decision regarding the club’s coaching structure going forward has been made,” Rowe said in a statement. “And it would be improper to make any further comment until all internal procedures have been completed.”
Exeter director of rugby, Rob Baxter, will also now step into a front-line coaching role until the end of the season. During his stint as head coach, Baxter guided the Chiefs to promotion to the Premiership in 2010, and later won two Premiership Cups, two Premierships and one Champions Cup. He stepped up to director of rugby in 2021 to allow Hepher to take on the role of head coach.
Coaching merry-go-round at Sandy Park
These two suspensions plunge the Chiefs’ coaching department into further chaos, in what was already a crazy season. Defence coach Mouneimne was sacked earlier this season after Exeter’s woeful start, with England U20s defence guru Haydn Thomas taking on the role.
Shortly after, Hepher was moved on as the club’s head coach, with Hunter taking the reins early in preparation for next season. Hepher reverted back to his old post as a backs coach and helped with the attack. He was set to take up a role with the Chiefs academy next season.
Hunter had also only been in post for four games prior to this suspension, a run which also included a 52-38 defeat to Bristol Bears, a 17-15 win over Newcastle Falcons and a 26-24 defeat to Bath.
“It’s my worst day as a coach, for sure,” Hunter said on Sunday. “It is in no way acceptable for us to perform like that for anybody involved in the matchday, coach or player. There’s no hiding away, and we’ve not tried to hide away from that in the changing room.
“Fair play to Gloucester, they played really well, but we gifted them opportunities in every facet of the game.”
It is also understood that Dave Walder will join Baxter’s staff next season as attack coach.
READ MORE: Exeter boss blasts ‘unacceptable’ defeat after coming ‘under an avalanche’ at Kingsholm
