Chiefs side to face Montpellier
By Mark Stevens
10/12/21
Rob Baxter has told his Exeter Chiefs squad to ‘not rest on their laurels’ as they look to kick-off their Heineken Champions Cup campaign against Montpellier at Sandy Park (8pm).
Back-to-back victories over Bath and Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership has helped lay the perfect foundations for the Chiefs to attack Europe’s top competition. However, the Chiefs’ Director of Rugby insists the hard work needs to continue against the visiting Frenchmen.
“It should be a fantastic occasion,” said Baxter. “It’s an 8pm kick-off, it should be some atmosphere and it’s the start of another competition for us. What we have to do, however, is make sure we push on from the last two games and play in a way that gets the crowd involved and creates an atmosphere like we had last weekend, because what it was like here last week was very special.
“Now – and I’ve said this to the players this week – we have to build on that foundation we’ve laid and not rest on our laurels. Instead, we need to look to be even better.”
Having kicked off their crucial six-game block with those two victories, Baxter believes he is starting to see all the qualities he expects to see from his squad, especially if they want to be challenging for honours come the end of the season.
“I think it started before the Saracens game,” he explained. “Going up to Bath was a real challenge in a lot of ways and I don’t think people realise just how much we had to overcome to win that game. Again, we had a lot of disruption in the build up to that game, including on the day itself with boys dropping in and out, but what that performance showed was the spirit that exists within the camp.
“We then followed it up with what was easily our best home performance of the season against Saracens at the weekend. What that showed was that we can go toe-to-toe with one of the teams at the top of the division. They are a top four side – and we’re not at this stage!
“What impressed me was that we have that fighting spirit to not only beat a side like that, but to get ourselves back into that top four. What we need to do now is keep repeating that process over and over again between now and the end of the season.”
Standing in the way of the Devonians tomorrow will be familiar foes in Montpellier, who lie third in the Top 14, having won seven of their 12 league games to date.
Baxter knows from past experience the threat they will pose and has issued a word of warning to his players to expect a formidable challenge tomorrow night.
“They are a good side,” he added. “They’re big, they’re physical and they have a lot of good players who, if you give them time and space, can really hurt you. If we let them settle into their game and play and offload, then they can be quite dangerous opposition. But that’s kind of what you expect in the Heineken Cup, you expect to face a real challenge.
“What we have to do is really focus on ourselves and make sure we bring the energy and physicality, because that is what will ultimately give us the best opportunity of winning the game.”
Over the years the Chiefs have grown more accustomed to the demands of the Champions Cup, learning some harsh lessons on their way before eventually claiming their maiden triumph back in 2020 against Racing 92.
“Initially we would see players just do something that would make us think ‘why are they doing that?’ They would do something that either put us under pressure or would mean we would lose points. When we would speak to them afterwards, quite often they’d tell us that because it was the Heineken Cup they would have to do something special.
“In a way, that’s correct. However, it’s not one-off moments you need, what you need is a group of players who for 80 minutes commit to lots of moments, as that is what will ultimately get you an all-round performance that more often than not wins you a game of European rugby.”
Not surprisingly, Baxter sticks with a virtually unchanged line-up from that which saw off Saracens a week ago. The sole change to the starting line-up sees Scottish international Sam Skinner come into the back-row in place of Don Armand, who drops to the bench at the expense of Richard Capstick.
