Baxter has plenty to ponder

By Mark Stevens
27/8/2016

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter admits he will have a number of selections headaches this week after his side wrapped up their pre-season programme with a 32-16 win at the Dragons.

Having already accrued victories over the Scarlets and Ulster Rugby on home soil, the Aviva Premiership made it a full house thanks to a powerful second half display at Rodney Parade.

Winger Olly Woodburn (pictured) helped himself to a hat-trick of tries on the night, while there were further touchdowns for hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and centre Ollie Devoto.

Although satisfied to round things off with a third successive win, Baxter admitted there was still plenty for his side to work on ahead of their league opener away to Wasps on Sunday week at the Ricoh Arena.

“Am I satisfied? Yes and no,” said Baxter at the final whistle. “Great credit to the Dragons, I thought the intensity they brought in that first 20, 25 minutes kind of rattled us and knocked us out of our stride a little bit.

“I know this sounds off, but I think we dropped into playing some pretty rugby in a way. It was quite fancy and nice at times and it looked like it distressed the Dragons a bit, but actually it was a bit loose, a bit messy and it meant we made a lot of mistakes.

“We put down a lot of ball and that meant the Dragons could counter-attack and that’s what they scored from. For us it got a bit ragged and when you get like that, you lose a bit of discipline and in turn you start to concede penalties, which we did.

“For a period I thought we looked a bit ordinary and a bit un-Exeter like - and I said to the guys at half time, it looks like you have come here a bit under prepared and not quite hitting the pitch in the mindset you need to be.

“We lacked intensity, direction and chat and to be a good side you all need to be singing off the same hymn sheet. Fair play to the lads, though, we got that composure back pretty well during the second quarter and we weathered the storm well and I was pretty satisfied to go in level at half time.”

And with Baxter offering a few words of wisdom during the break, it was a much-improved display from the Chiefs after the break, one in which they dominated proceedings throughout.

Baxter added: “In the second half we started to take a bit of control and we started to defend with sets that didn’t lead to penalties. Our set-piece was good, so was our phase play, and we were a lot more direct in what we did.

“You saw the results after that and the scoreline began to mount. In the end to only concede 16 points away from home is actually pretty good, but it was a little frustrating that we looked so ragged in that first quarter.”

With pre-season done and dusted now for another year, the focus will now switch to the upcoming encounter with Wasps, a club the Chiefs know well having met them four times last season.

Baxter felt this latest work-out offered the perfect build-up to that clash, stating: “We go to Wasps next week and this is the sort of fixture we needed. It is a fantastic place to come and play rugby, you couldn’t have asked for better conditions or a better pitch, and you could play some really good rugby out there.

“They [Dragons] are a tough side . I watched them play Cardiff Blues a couple of weeks ago and they really rattled Cardiff and got a deserved victory. As coaches we knew what was coming, but as players I don’t think we were really mentally ready for the way they started.

“The one thing we didn’t do is that we didn’t let it continue and we dealt with it, so that is normally a very good sign.”

And having viewed the vast majority of his squad over the past three weeks, Baxter says he and his fellow coaches have plenty to ponder in terms of selection.

“It’s great to have wins and have that momentum,” continued Baxter. “As coaches we have got some nice headaches on what our best combinations will be and what is the best 23 players to take to Wasps, because we have had periods of really good play, but some errors where you wonder why that has happened.

“We will have another good look at today and now we’ve got a long weekend to really dissect the game. We have then got some decision to makes because we have a lot of good players here at the club at the moment.”