Rich rewards for Chiefs No.8

 

 

By Mark Stevens

Over the years Richard Baxter has experienced plenty of high points during a distinguished Exeter playing career, but even the Chiefs No.8 had to admit Saturday's Aviva Premiership victory over Harlequins was "right up there".

With the Chiefs looking to bounce back following their 30-8 mauling by the Leicester Tigers the week previous, the Devon club used their return to home pastures as the perfect launch-pad from which to produce easily their best-ever display in English rugby's top flight.

The home side ran in five tries through Brett Sturgess, Ben White, Jason Shoemark (2) and Sireli Naqelevuki on their way to a 42-28 success, but it so easily could have been more had Tom Johnson and Matt Jess not been foiled by last-gasp tackles from the Londoners.

Helping to lead the charge at Sandy Park was the evergreen Baxter, who had been handed the captaincy in the absence of the rested Tom Hayes.

From the outset, the 34-year-old forward was seemingly everywhere on the park, attacking and defending as though his very existence depended on him thwarting the reigning Premiership champions.

Quite rightly, Baxter - the younger sibling of Exeter's current head coach, Rob Baxter - was awarded the man-of-the-match accolade in his 411th competitive outing for his hometown club.

However, when quizzed afterwards about his side's third league win of the season, even Baxter Jnr had to admit it was one of his most memorable days in and Exeter jersey.

“It is right up there amongst my greatest ever wins in an Exeter shirt,” said No?8 Baxter, who made his league debut for the club as a 19-year-old against Fylde in 1997. “We had a bunch of guys out there putting in a massive effort and work rate and doing their jobs really well, and we managed to just do enough to get on top of Harlequins and get those couple of scores ahead.

“The more you progress as a club, the more you have to use your squad to its full potential, and this showed we have got guys who can step in and do a very good job.”

Exeter are three games into a daunting run of five fixtures against last season’s Premiership top three, Leinster and French giants Clermont Auvergne, but they already have two wins from that sequence, and will travel to Dublin full of confidence.

And Baxter, who still combines playing with working on the family’s 330-acre farm on his days off, is obviously looking forward to his first taste of Heineken Cup rugby.

“Isn’t this what you want to be doing, playing for a successful club and in big games throughout the year? To play in the Heineken Cup will be the pinnacle of my career, as it would be for any player in the English game, and to be able to play in those matches, whoever is picked, will be fantastic.”

Tickets for Exeter's forthcoming Heineken Cup fixture at home to Clermont Auvergne are currently available to purchase either online via the Chiefs official website or via the Trading Post, which is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm.

Supporters are also reminded that for those not travelling to Dublin this weekend for our clash with Leinster, you can watch the action live at Sandy Park on one of the TV screens located in the Exeter Suite. Doors open at 2pm with food and drink available.