Hard work pays dividends, says Baxter
By Mark Stevens
17/4/20
Rob Baxter believes the news that Exeter Chiefs will have a women’s team in the Tyrrells Premier 15s competition next season is just reward for the time, effort and investment the club were willing to put into their application.
The Rugby Football Union confirmed earlier this month that the Chiefs had been successful in applying to join the 10-team division from the start of the 2020/21 season.
Together with fellow newcomers Sale Sharks Women, the Chiefs will find themselves lining up against the likes of Bristol Bears, Gloucester-Hartpury, Harlequins, Loughborough Lightning, Saracens, Wasps, DMP Durham Sharks and Worcester Warriors next term.
That decision ensured months of behind-the-scenes work at Sandy Park, which included bringing in former internationals Susie Appleby and Amy Garnett to head up the new-look coaching team, was in the end fully justified.
It was September last year where Baxter, along with Exeter Rugby Club chief executive, Tony Rowe OBE, outlined the club’s vision of putting together a new professional women’s team.
“From the outset, we sat down and we looked at what you had to have in place to make a genuine application,” explained Baxter. “We took it very seriously and that was demonstratedin the recruitment drive we carried out to get both Susie and Amy on board. In those ladies we knew we had found two fantastic coaches, who can really drive the project forward.”
However, no place in the Tyrrells Premier 15s was guaranteed and the Chiefs have since had to prove - on many fronts - that they had everything in place to tick the relevant boxes for their application.
“What the club have been prepared to do was invest, not only in Susie and Amy, but we also added a full-time physio and a full-time S&C coach, and we demonstrated in a number of other areas the determination that we had to make things work.
“Having Susie and Amy on board helped massively, they did a lot of work on the bid alongside Toni Percival in the office, but also the senior coaches here at the club have all been prepared to work and help the women as much as they can. The buy in from everyone was fantastic and that is what was so important from my perspective.
“As I’ve said, I’m delighted that the application was successful because it was a bit of a gamble for both Susie and Amy at the time. Together, though, they and everyone at the club have worked tirelessly to get things done and the fruits of that work were rewarded in us being named as one of the ten teams.
“A big reason we said we wanted a women’s team is because we often talk about Exeter Chiefs being this one big, happy rugby family and now with the creation of this team, I think we can say we truly are that one big happy family. We know from past experience that there is genuine interest across the region for the women’s game and I’m confident that over time we will really see the team and the fanbase grow even further.”
The current COVID-19 outbreak has meant that future plans have been slightly hampered, but Appleby revealed following the RFU’s decision that the ‘hard work starts now’ .
“It’s been an interesting process for us, but one that I think we have done very well in,” added Baxter. “As Susie said, now we have the decision, the hard work starts in terms of putting together a team, training plans, all the things you need to build a successful side. Some of that has already started, but a lot of it will really begin in earnest now.
“Now, it’s up to all of us at the club to follow through on those desires we had of creating a successful team and creating those opportunities for girls and women in the area to now go out and play as high a level of rugby as they can.”