Challenge for new Chiefs squad to build on progress of previous campaign

Exeter Chiefs’ director of rugby Rob Baxter says his squad’s challenge will be to build upon the foundations built last year as pre-season preparations begin for the squad at Sandy Park.

The 2025/26 Chiefs season will go down as one of progression and success for many casual observers. Second in a highly competitive Gallagher PREM final, semi-finalists in the EPCR Challenge Cup and finalists in the domestic Prem Rugby Cup. Chiefs recorded 17 player debuts, accumulated 65 league points and secured 16 home victories across all competitions, including shutouts against Harlequins and Cardiff Rugby.

How then did Baxter reflect on such a season of redevelopment and growth ahead of pre-season beginning?

He said: “When you start to feel that power of successful performances, sticking in there, using your fitness, and you have those couple of wins late in games like we had, then you just feel the group go ‘this is good’.

“Now, yes, we brought in good players, but it was also players who excelled a lot more than probably people thought they were capable of. People would’ve expected the likes of a Len Ikitau to have had impact for us, but they maybe didn’t realise the impact that a guy like Andrea Zambonin could have, or Stephen Varney or Bachuki Tchumbadze. Those guys kind of came from a little under the radar.

“Those players coming in linked in with a proper restart point. There was a bit of a slap in the face at the end of the season before, so we took some time to really cement what pre-season would look like, feel like.

“That allowed us to have a good pre-season where we got genuinely fit, set very high standards in what we wanted to achieve, and then that flowed into the season. I think you probably saw the team grow on the back of having some success.”

It was a gruelling process to charge from a ninth place finish the year before to securing third position in the final round of the regular season with a 32-12 victory over Saracens.

Baxter explained: “We collected at least a point in every single Prem game we played last season, which to me is the biggest factor, biggest definer of where we got to as a side. That we were ultra-competitive in every game. Every one of those points became vital at the end.”

That was last season, however. Last Monday morning, a completely new Chiefs squad came together, and they already had a mountain to face – just four short weeks stand between them and their first game of the season, a home friendly against Scarlets Rugby.

Baxter said: “That’s the challenge now. Are we prepared to work as hard as we did last pre-season, to get ready for this season? Especially this season with pre-season being so short.

“Initially I think the mood [amongst the squad] looks very good. We know we’ve got a very short pre-season, so the last thing we said to the lads was ‘you can’t let your fitness slip’. The defining factor will come in a few weeks’ time when the internationals return, because they’re going to have to get up to speed incredibly quickly.”

The Chiefs coaches haven’t looked to reinvent the wheel though. The core of the Chiefs’ season last year was their evident unity, teammates genuinely enjoying playing for and with one another often getting them through some gritty, testing encounters.

Thus, the plans and concepts for this new campaign will remain largely unchanged.

Baxter added: “We’re really following on from the themes we started to embed last season. That the team is the important thing, and understanding your role in it, how important you are within it. How you make sure you’re the person ready for challenges on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis.

“Then also just to be a person that, while walking around, is seen as one of the positive influences here. The way you talk, the way you act, or your body language is something that is a positive driving factor.”

You can watch the whole interview with Rob Baxter on our YouTube channel.

Chiefs’ first competitive game of the season will be a home Prem Rugby Cup tie with Bristol Bears on Saturday, 12 September with tickets available here.