Season Review So Far - September
By Mark Stevens
1/4/20
Having narrowly missed out on a second Premiership title back in June, losing to Saracens 37-34 at Twickenham in June, there was a familiar look to the Exeter Chiefs squad when they reported back for training in July ahead of the 2019/20 season.
New faces had been added in the shape of Jannes Kirsten, Jordon Poole, Tom Price, Stan South and Willy Witty, but it was the signing of Scottish and British Lions full-back Stuart Hogg that made all the headlines during the close season.
Chiefs supporters, however, would have to wait until after the Rugby World Cup to get their first glimpse of Hogg as he was one of six Exeter players who would be featuring for their respective countries over in Japan.
Hogg was part of Scotland’s 31-man squad, while Nic White featured for Australia, Tomas Francis for Wales, whilst Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade were all named in Eddie Jones’ travelling party.
Nowell and Slade would have to wait for their first involvements in the tournament due to injuries, but Cowan-Dickie scored tries in England’s opening two pool games during September against Tonga (35-3) and USA (45-7).
Hogg was also on the scoresheet for his country, landing a monstrous drop-goal in their 34-0 victory over Samoa. It was a vital victory for Gregor Townsend’s side having lost their opening fixture to Ireland 27-3.
Over in Pool D, both Australia and Wales kicked off their campaigns with victories over Fiji and Georgia respectively. However, their next meetings brought about a Chiefs head-to-head between White and Francis in Tokyo.
It was Francis, though, who was celebrating come the final whistle, the Welsh edging out a classic encounter 29-25.
Back in Devon, Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, had been busy alongside his fellow coaches getting his squad ready for the rigours of the new season which, this year, did not have the normal pre-season friendlies put in place due to the World Cup being stage.
Instead, the season would begin with all four qualifying rounds of the Premiership Rugby Cup, a competition which has served the Chiefs well over the years, particularly in helping blood some of the club’s up-and-coming names to life at senior level.
And it was no real surprise when Baxter named a youthful line-up for their seasonal opener against Westcountry rivals Bath Rugby. Long-serving fly-half Gareth Steenson provided some real experience, alongside the likes of Kirsten James Short and Olly Woodburn, but the remainder of the side was made up of those looking to impress Baxter and his coaches.
One of those handed his shot was Academy product Tom Wyatt, who claimed the first of three first half tries for the hosts as they stormed into a 21-0 lead at Sandy Park.
Wyatt was first over, quickly followed by Tom Hendrickson and Woodburn with the reliable boot of Steenson ensuring maximum reward on each occasion.
Bath were clearly rocked by the ferocity of Exeter’s all-out attacking play, but they did improve after the break, no doubt warmed by some harsh half-time words from their own Director of Rugby, Stuart Hooper, who himself was born and raised in Exeter.
Converted tries from Levi Davis and Chris Cook helped them to reduce the lead to just seven points, but the Chiefs still had enough in the tank to not only hold their rivals at bay but, more crucially, claim the all-important bonus point score when replacement Barrie Karea claimed a debut score.
Up and running, it was the perfect start for Baxter, who said post-game: “You are always really pleased with a win,” he said. “To get the bonus point as well, it keeps us alive in the first competition of the season. It was a good performance, especially first half, and although the boys looked leggy in the second half - and it was the same for Bath - it’s kind of what you expect when a lot of players go 80 minutes for their first game.
“It’s been a good day for all those young players. We’ve worked a lot with these lads during the off season, but there is only so much you can do with them in terms of training and looking at video. Now, we can sit down with them and spend some genuine time going through their game.
“The truth is, you can spend more time working off the field than you can with them on it, but there is some genuinely good stuff for us to work with. The level of performance they showed was right up there, but I think even in this next week alone we can see them go up another level in performance, which will be incredible.
“Most of them will be involved again this week [against Leicester], so they’ve got a short turnaround to get recovered, get a good review in on Monday and, hopefully, come Friday we will be a better team again.”
Just days after kicking off the season with a bang, Baxter had further reason for cheer as he welcomed his second South African import to the Westcountry. Just two months after bringing in Kirsten, who impressed many on his Chiefs debut, Jacques Vermeulen was arriving in Devon waters from Super Rugby side, the Sharks.
Like compatriot Kirsten, the 24-year-old was an unknown commodity to most people in these parts, but it didn’t take long for Vermeulen to show his worth, making a try-scoring debut in Exeter’s second Cup fixture of the season away to Leicester Tigers.
Again, Baxter stuck with virtually an unchanged line-up for the trip to the East Midlands, but up against a strong and experienced Tigers line-up, it would prove a testing night for the young Chiefs at Welford Road as they eventually went down 27-7.
In the aftermath, a reflective Baxter gave his assessment on his side’s display, stating: “I’m a little disappointed, but I’m also aware where we made our mistakes. We gave up a real soft try at the start but, to be fair, we fought really well after that. It was a one score game for much of the game, probably until the last five minutes where it got away from us, so those fighting qualities shown after a disappointing start I’m pleased with.
“I’m also pleased that it’s a bit of a slap in the face for us, just because sometimes you need one - particularly the younger guys who need that little sharp awakener to remind them as to why we do some of the things we do, and why we drive them so hard in some areas, because when push comes to shove and collectively you need to perform, it’s those little things that really matter.
“That kind of got highlighted to me over and over again today. Sometimes it’s little things like your talk in defence, how you get set early, how you work together as a backline in defence and how we work together to get tempo and movement into our game. As I’ve just said to the guys in the changing room, we will get better at all of those things, but for some of these players that only comes from having experiences like tonight and taking on some tough lessons.”
As Baxter rightly pointed out, lessons would be learnt in the wake of the loss and there would prove an immediate response the following month with the club’s latest away-day at Worcester Warriors.