Europe excites Baxter

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter says his side are relishing the prospect of testing themselves against the elite names of European rugby when they kick-off their Heineken Cup campaign next week.

The Devon club make their competition debut in Dublin against Leinster on Saturday week (3.40pm) and Baxter - who was in London this week at the tournament's launch alongside skipper Tom Hayes - believes the chance to tackle  the defending champions will offer his squad yet more valuable experience at the very top end of the modern-day game.

"You improve massively by playing against quality opposition and quality players," he said. "This is the next step up and an opportunity for our guys not only to experience something new, but to develop as players and as a team.

"No other Exeter team might face this set of fixtures ever again. In our first six games, plus the first two rounds of the Heineken, we'll play the top four in the Premiership and two of the best teams in Europe. That's a challenge for anybody and that's a challenge we'll take head on and see who can thrive on it."

And Baxter says the club that he has been associated with throughout his life deserves its chance to perform on the biggest stage.

He added: "We didn't just wake up one day in the Premiership and we haven't just woken up one day in the Heineken Cup. We finished second the Championship for a lot of years, we lost second-tier competitions in the Championship three or four times.

"I played in a couple, and at the time they were heart-breaking. But you look back and the reality is that they were the little steps we needed to take. One of the final steps in the jigsaw was winning the Championship play-off and now working hard to establish ourselves in the Premiership.

"We've tended to do well in big, difficult circumstances and I've got to hope again that it brings the best out of us. We enjoy the experience and we come out of it a better team."