Chiefs side to face Gloucester
By Mark Stevens
25/3/21
Having spent much of his weekly media briefing playing down talk of him becoming the next England coach, Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter says his own focus is firmly fixed on the next fortnight, particularly as his double champions gear up for a pivotal period in the current campaign.
It starts tomorrow with their latest Gallagher Premiership trip to rivals Gloucester in Round 15 (5:30pm) and is quickly followed with the impending visit of French side Lyon to Sandy Park in the Heineken Champions Cup’s Round of 16 on Saturday week.
“It’s an interesting period,” said Baxter. “I don’t mind saying it, the only way I will know if we have got things right will be in two weeks’ time and if we have made it through in the Champions Cup and we are still where we want to be in the Premiership. That’s the challenge.”
With one eye cast to next week’s European engagement, Baxter is taking the opportunity to make sure he has a fully-loaded attacking arsenal at his disposal. And with that thought in mind, he has made 11 changes in personnel for tomorrow’s clash at Kingsholm against the Cherry & Whites.
In the pack, Sean Lonsdale is the lone survivor from last weekend’s 47-31 home win over Leicester Tigers, while behind Harvey Skinner, Facundo Cordero and Olly Woodburn also remain in situ.
“As I said, it’s a challenging period for us. We have the challenge of reintegrating those international boys who have been away at the Six Nations back into the squad, whilst at the same time looking after those guys who have played a lot of game time in their absence, as well as those who have got bumps and bruises.
“If we get it right, then we will have a European quarter-final, which again will be a huge game, after which we roll into two massive games in the Premiership [against Wasps and Bristol Bears]. For all of us, it’s an exciting time. It’s not just exciting for us as coaches, but also for players as well. At the same time, it will be an opportunity for some players do some special things, so it will be interesting to see who takes it.”
Buoyed by successive wins over Bath, Harlequins and Leicester Tigers, the Chiefs will travel in buoyant mood to Gloucester, who despite their lowly position, will pose a creditable threat to Exeter’s top two aspirations.
“Going to Gloucester is always one of my favourite trips of the season,” said Baxter. “You know whenever you go there it’s going to be a challenge. In the past they’ve beaten us - and we’ve beaten them, but it’s always a tight contest and I’m expecting the same again this week.
“Of course it will be different going there with no crowd, but we’ve kind of got used to that over this last year. The real focus for us will be on our performance and what we can take onto the field. I want us to decide to go out there, work hard for one another, push through and help us maintain that top two position.”
With just seven points separating the Chiefs in second spot and Sale Sharks in fourth, Baxter says it’s imperative that his side keep their top two hopes firmly in their control with just eight rounds of the regular season to go.
“I was asked the other day by someone was was out easiest Premiership game and I struggled to choose one,” added the Chiefs boss. “In every game we’ve played this season we’ve been challenged and had teams really come at us. It’s like they have nothing to lose. On the flip side, though, that’s been good for us because it’s given us something extra to fight for as we try and keep people at arms length.
“On the whole, I think we’ve coped with things well, because we’ve won games of rugby, we’ve collected decent points along the way, and we’ve created some good qualities that have given us those solid foundations from which we can build.
“As a team, we’ve been in this position before - sometimes a little bit more comfortable than we are now - but as champions we have been challenged more than ever, yet we been standing up to it very well.”
In terms of selection for tomorrow’s game, club captain Jack Yeandle returns to the fold having served his three-game ban following his red card at Sale Sharks last month, whilst there are first-ever Premiership stars for prop James Kenny, lock Tom Price, No.8 Rus Tuima and centre Dan John.
EXETER CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE GLOUCESTER
15 Josh Hodge
14 Olly Woodburn
13 Dan John
12 Corey Baldwin
11 Facundo Cordero
10 Harvey Skinner
9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
1 James Kenny
2 Jack Yeandle (capt)
3 Marcus Street
4 Sean Lonsdale
5 Tom Price
6 Don Armand
7 Richard Capstick
8 Rus Tuima
16 Elvis Taione
17 Danny Southworth
18 Alfie Petch
19 Will Witty
20 Charlie Wright
21 Stu Townsend
22 Arthur Relton
23 James Short