Chiefs side to face Irish
By Mark Stevens
29/9/20
Rob Baxter insists there can be no let-up from his Exeter Chiefs side over the final two rounds of the regular Gallagher Premiership season.
The Devonians have already assured themselves of home advantage in next month’s play-offs - and on Saturday they booked their place in the final of the Heineken Champions Cup with a 28-18 victory over Toulouse.
Two huge games await down the line for Baxter’s men, who must first overcome the challenges of London Irish and Wasps this week.
Virtually all of Saturday’s semi-final heroes are given tomorrow off against the Exiles (5:30pm), so it will be up to others to take on the Exeter baton and further cement the Chiefs superiority at the top of the table.
“The best thing about sport is that you don’t have to wait long for things to move on,” said Baxter. “You have got to be someone who wants to move on, both as a team and as an individual, otherwise Saturday’s exploits get left behind quite quickly as your failures are ahead.
“It’s very important we move onto London Irish and Wasps because they are two very important games for us. In the bigger picture, there are repercussions of us not going well. What we want to see is a team who are fit, fresh, ready to play and who want to contribute to what are semi-finals and finals coming up on the horizon.
“At the same time, you look at the side this week and there are a number of people who will start these games who we know we will need to use when the new season starts again in a few weeks. There is a reality that they need to be ready, not just now, but also down the line, so there is lots for them to play for, both individually and collectively.”
Whilst the Chiefs were happy to celebrate their triumph over Toulouse, Baxter said the party mood quickly switched back to game mode when his squad reported back in for duty on Monday.
“I think it would be easy for the players to go out on Wednesday night and enjoy playing London Irish at home,” added Baxter. “We have achieved a big thing as a squad. We’ve got a home semi-final in the Premiership, got a European final, so let’s go and enjoy ourselves. Actually, I want the lads to put themselves under a fair bit more pressure than that, because I want to see individuals working with pressure because that is where they will improve.
“If your next game after this is a Premiership semi-final, there is going to be a lot of pressure. Therefore, I don’t want these last two games to be a bit of fun, I want them to put themselves under a lot of pressure to perform. The result will be what it is - I talk about that all the time, regardless of the game. It’s more about having a performance level that you are happy with, both individually and collectively, and that is what we are going to drive this week.”
As has been displayed over the various games since rugby restarted last month, Baxter’s array of talent is there for all to see. With just one loss in eight games, he could not have asked for a better response from his players, all of whom seem hell-bent on delivering success on two fronts.
“It does feel special here at the moment,” added the Chiefs’ Director of Rugby. “I say that because, if you watch a group of people who you work with every day achieve things like we have, that’s fantastic and what sport is all about. The fulfilment I get as a coach, watching not just the players, but the team of coaches we have here, put together a really good game plan and then seeing it delivered by the players themselves, that is what makes it all worthwhile.
“The guys went out and performed everything we asked of them at the weekend - and now this group of players who are facing London Irish, they need to do exactly the same because I expect them to go out and win, not just fulfil a fixture.”
Indeed, it was Exeter’s willingness to stay in the fight against four-time European champions Toulouse that gave Baxter a huge sense of satisfaction come the final whistle.
“The big thing now is to have faith in what we do, but not blind faith in what we do,” he continued. “I had people asked me if it was part of the game plan to let them [Toulouse] come at us in that first 20 minutes and then hope they got tired. If I’m being honest, that was never the game plan!
“They came at us and caused us problems because they were very good. What we had to do was stand up and fight, which we did. We had to weather that early storm, but we did that exceptionally well. They only had two penalties for all their efforts, simply because we made them work so hard for every point they had. Had they scored two tries, it may have been a different story, but we showed that fight and that determination from minute one which, ultimately, can make the difference later in the game.”
Now, more of the same will be craved from Baxter tomorrow against an Exiles side, who sit 10th in the standings. The hosts make wholesale changes with England International Don Armand heading up a youthful looking home pack.
Behind, Stu Townsend makes his first appearance since February at scrum-half, while outside of him there is decent experience in the shape of Ollie Devoto, Tom Hendrickson and Phil Dollman, who continues to flourish in his final weeks as a Chiefs player.
CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE LONDON IRISH
15 Phil Dollman
14 Facundo Cordero
13 Tom Hendrickson
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Olly Woodburn
10 Harvey Skinner
9 Stu Townsend
1 Billy Keast
2 Jack Innard
3 Marcus Street
4 Will Witty
5 Tom Price
6 Richard Capstick
7 Don Armand (capt)
8 Aaron Hinkley
16 Elvis Taione
17 James Kenny
18 Alfie Petch
19 Dave Dennis
20 Charlie Wright
21 Sam Maunder
22 Jack Walsh
23 Corey Baldwin