Tomas Francis red card was unfortunate - Rob Baxter

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has come in support of Wales prop Tomas Francis following the red-card sanction he received during the Aviva Premiership game against Harlequins on Saturday.

The 24-year-old, who came as a replacement in the 52nd minute of the game was sent off 20 minutes later for illegal use of the boot.

Baxter described the incident as "unfortunate", however, the former lock admitted that the players were made aware of the consequence of kicking out at a ruck prior to the start of the season.

"Tom's been a bit unfortunate," Baxter told BBC Devon.

"It was a soft red card because players have been told that you can't flash feet into rucks now.

"Even if you genuinely think you can go for the ball, if you connect with someone's head you're liable for a sending off.

"There's no malice there, but the reality is that players have been told about it and it's a habit that they must get out of."

This will be Francis' second red card in six months as he was earlier sanctioned during the 2016 Six Nations tournament for making a contact with the eye area of England's Dan Cole while representing Wales at Twickenham.

Despite losing Francis in the closing stage of the game, Exeter Chiefs managed to win the match against Harlequins 36-25 and are positioned seventh in the table.