Youngsters progress pleases Humphreys

"We are always disappointed to lose, we want to compete and to win every game, but when you lose you have to look at things with a clear head and without emotion" he said.

"Everybody knows how we use the LV, as a development tool for our younger players that gives them exposure of a higher level of competition than they've been used to and that's exactly what they got tonight.

"There were debuts for Arthur Ellis and Owen Williams, who both did exceptionally well, a chance for people like Sam Davies and Sam Williams to start for the first time, and then we had Marc Thomas and Lloyd Peers coming off the bench and doing well.

"The boys did really well. Our defence was outstanding at times, but if I was to be critical I'd say that our exit strategy under pressure wasn't it should be. We weren't as effective there as we'd have liked which meant that we were inviting Exeter to attack us.

"We're generally happy with the progress the younger group is making. We've seen plenty of character and, as we'd hoped, we've learned a lot about some individuals. It's all part of their development, playing Aviva Premiership teams and playing in front of bigger crowds than they may be used to, and some of the boys have given us plenty to think about as coaches.

"We've two very important PRO12 games coming up and we've seen some players that we will have to turn to over the next fortnight really standing up and that's pleasing. With injuries and international squad call-ups, particularly up front where we've been without 10 frontline forwards over the last couple of week, we know that we are being stretched. We'll stick to the job in hand though which, for us, is a difficult game away to Edinburgh next week."