International exposure pleases Baxter

By Jess Bassett
9/6/2016

Rob Baxter believes the growing number of Exeter Chiefs players away on international tours this summer is a clear indication of the progress being made by the club on all fronts.

With 14 of next season’s squad involved in varying international fixtures over the coming weeks, plus assistant coach Ali Hepher and S&C coach Rob Beddard also working with the England Saxons in South Africa, its little wonder the head coach is proud as punch with the plethora of call-ups for his players and staff.

Among those heading up the list of players currently away from Sandy Park are the England trio of Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell (pictured), the latter two of whom have been included in Eddie Jones’ match-day squad for Saturday’s opening Test match against Australia in Brisbane.

Also taking to the field at the Suncorp Stadium will be Aussie prop Greg Holmes, who is set to move to Devon later this summer from the Queensland Reds, plus former club captain Dean Mumm, who has been named on the bench for the Wallabies.

Elsewhere, the Chiefs will have a hearty contingent of stars featuring for the England Saxons against South Africa A in Bloemfontein tomorrow night, while Michele Campagnaro starts for Italy against Argentina this weekend and Tomas Francis is on the bench for Wales in their opening Test against world champions New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday.

Coming up Moray Low will be part of the Scotland squad that tackles Japan in two fixtures in the Far East, while Elvis Taione is sure to feature for Tonga during their latest Pacific Nations Cup campaign.

With so many players featuring this month around the globe, it will mean the Chiefs squad will look a little thinner than usual when they report back for pre-season training in just over a fortnight’s time.

Baxter, though, says it will cause little issue for him and his staff and already he is relishing welcoming his players back ahead of the 2016/17 season.

“Obviously as a club we're really pleased to have so many guys away on international duty,” he said. “We want to become a club where players believe they can fulfil everything that they can in their careers and for most professional sportsmen that means playing for their country.

“For me, the more guys we have away on summer tours the happier we are because it shows we are a club that has a lot of good players here.”

As Exeter welcome more and more international stars into their ranks, Baxter also highlights how coming to the Chiefs has also help to re-ignite the international careers of players such as Mumm and Low.

“We’ve had some guys here which are very important to us,” added Baxter. “Guys like Dean Mumm (pictured) and Moray Low, they were guys who've dropped out of the international scene, yet they came here and by playing well they got back into international teams.”

Baxter believes the ambition of the Chiefs – both on and off the field – has helped players and the club grow significantly over the six years since their arrival into the Aviva Premiership.

“I think initially when we first got into the Premiership we probably recruited in a way to try and not have too many players away for our first year because we wanted as strong a squad as possible and we wanted them all here available.

“Now as we try and become a very ambitious club, we encourage international players to come here. More and more often and we work very hard to help the players who are here achieve their international goals and I think that's the most important part of being an ambitious club now, it’s that you've got to help these players become internationals.”