Chiefs side to face Welsh

 

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter hopes a return to home surroundings will provide the perfect pick-me-up to get his ailing side back on track in the Aviva Premiership.

With just one league defeat at Sandy Park this season - that came against Northampton Saints back in early January - the Chiefs welcome Premiership newcomers to London Welsh to Devon tomorrow (3pm).

Like the Chiefs, the visitors have also been experiencing some tough times of late and last weekend's narrow home defeat to Sale Sharks has pulled Lyn Jones' team into the division's relegation fight.

Baxter is aware of the threat the Exiles pose to his team, especially after they claimed one of their four league wins against the Chiefs back in September, but as he prepared his own players for this latest match-up, he says a simple focus on "core basics" has been the main theme of his side's preparation this week.

"We've focused this week on working on our core basics," he said. "Just because we've lost a few games recently, we've not run around all week trying to drastically change our game. If we did, that's just a recipe for disaster, so instead we've just focused on the core things that have made us a good side and which have led to some good victories.

"There is a reality that we have only lost one home game in the Premiership, so we know we are still a good side. I know it maybe feels a little bit different, simply because it has been so long since our last Premiership game here, but I think that is why sometimes you need to step back and look at the bigger picture.

"Sometimes you've got to be careful you don't take any game in isolation, because if you start doing that and over-reacting, then you get on a spiral of reacting and doing something different every week. I think what we've learnt from our time in the Premiership is that if you adopt that approach it's not a recipe for success, so instead the teams that come through when they are not winning games are the teams that stick at it and realise what works for them, so we've put an emphasis on that this week."

Baxter added: "We have always been a side that looks to develop our game and we still have to keep pushing forward with some key fundamentals in our game. I am very aware that some of our issues at Sale were not from guys who were not bothered about winning, they were more about guys being so desperate to win that when we felt a bit of pressure come on in the second half, we didn't react very well.

"Personally I don't think that's a bad quality to have - I like guys who are happy to win - and I'm happy with the guys and their attitude right now. I know they are hurting at the minute because they want to win more games, but now they have to channel that hurt in the right frame of mind this weekend."

Standing in the way of the Chiefs tomorrow will be a Welsh outfit that, like their hosts, are desperate to claim at least four vital league points.

"They are desperate for points, but so are we," explained Baxter. "We want to do well in the Premiership; we want to do well at home; and we want to win games of rugby, so it's an important game for us. As I said, we need to remember what makes us a good side and enjoy controlling possession and playing rugby. I've said quite a few times that seasons should not hang on one game; right now we are having a solid season. Apart from the Saracens game that got away from us, if we don't win games we're still picking up bonus points and that again is something we have to remember.

"Welsh, we know, are an 80-minute side, you can see that in virtually every performance. However, we have to step back and look at what makes us good and focus more on ourselves. When Exeter are at home and when we have been ourselves, we are a very good side.

"We have great respect for Welsh because we've played them a lot over the years, but we need to make this weekend about us. If anything the last few weeks have been more about the opposition. At Sale it was about them being desperate to avoid relegation and they scrapped and fought; they niggled and they us a few issues. Last week it was more about Saracens, their new pitch, and the media that came with all that.

"I think in both those games we maybe let that get to us a bit, so this weekend I'd much prefer we focus more on ourselves and not necessarily the opposition and the occasion so much."

Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter make a handful of changes to his starting line-up from that which took to the field at Allianz Park last Saturday. In the pack, Carl Rimmer and Jack Yeandle (pictured) come into the front row; skipper Tom Hayes returns in the second row and Ben White, injured last week, is also a starter in the Exeter back-row.

For Yeandle it signals a first-ever Premiership start for the former Doncaster Knights forward; whilst White's inclusion means Richard Baxter reverts back to his more traditional position of No.8.

Behind, Haydn Thomas takes over from Will Chudley at scrum-half and there is a change in the midfield where Sireli Naqelevuki returns in place of Ian Whitten.

On the bench, back-row forward Dave Ewers is also back for the first time since injuring himself in November. There he is joined by Neil Clark, Ben Moon, Alex Brown, Damian Welch, Will Chudley, Ignacio Mieres and Phil Dollman.

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE LONDON WELSH

15 Luke Arscott
14 Jack Nowell
13 Sireli Naqelevuki
12 Jason Shoemark
11 Matt Jess
10 Gareth Steenson
9 Haydn Thomas
1 Carl Rimmer
2 Jack Yeandle
3 Hoani Tui
4 Tom Hayes (capt)
5 Dean Mumm
6 Ben White
7 James Scaysbrook
8 Richard Baxter

16 Neil Clark
17 Ben Moon
18 Alex Brown
19 Damian Welch
20 Dave Ewers
21 Will Chudley
22 Ignacio Mieres
23 Phil Dollman