Baxter salutes his Chiefs
By Mark Stevens
25/3/19
Exeter Chiefs may have secured their place in this season’s Gallagher Premiership play-offs in record time, but Director of Rugby Rob Baxter insists there will be no let-up from his side as they target a return to Twickenham.
Sunday’s 29-10 victory over Bath at a packed-out Sandy Park not only saw the Chiefs extend their lead at the top of the table over defending champions Saracens to nine points, but it guaranteed them one of the four play-off spots, even though there are still five rounds of the regular season remaining.
Understandably, Baxter was delighted with the way in which his side went about their business against their local rivals, but post-match he fired an ominous warning to the rest of the Premiership insisting the Chiefs will only look to get better during the final run-in.
“We are ticking off some milestones,” explained Baxter. “Today, we’ve secured the top four, which is great, and next we want to tick off that home semi-final. Beyond that, I don’t want us to be spluttering through these final five games. I want us to be a team who are building a destiny towards being in home semi-finals, being in finals, and lifting trophies.
“You do that, however, by the way you play and how you look. I want us to look like that when we report back to training on Wednesday, I want us to look the same against Leicester in two weeks’ time, and I want us to look like that over the next five weeks.
“I don’t want us to think at any stage it’s about rotating players and trying to keep guys fit for the end of the season. It’s not about that for me, it’s about building belief for ourselves and a bit of disbelief in others over these next few weeks.”
Although Bath offered a decent resistance for much of the contest on Sunday, scoring a try through Nathan Catt and five points from fly-half Rhys Priestland, it was the all-round class of the Chiefs which prevailed come the final whistle.
Ollie Devoto, Jack Yeandle and Olly Woodburn all claimed touchdowns, alongside a second half penalty try, to ensure the Chiefs were able to notch up their 14th league win of the season.
Ahead of kick-off, Baxter was not only boosted by the return of his international contingent following their recent exertions in the Guinness Six Nations Championship, but he also had to contend with the loss of fly-half Gareth Steenson in the warm-up, the Irishman crying off with a calf injury.
Despite the new-look to his line-up, he was content with the way in which his players went about their business on the day.
“I think when we review the game, we will see a little element of rustiness within the team,” explained Baxter. “That’s understandable, given we re-introduced a number of players back into the squad after international duty, plus we had to make the late switch with Steeno pulling out and Joe Simmonds stepping in.
“Although he’s not had a great deal of game minutes in the last few weeks, I thought Simmo played exceptionally well, so I have to give credit to him and the rest of the players for the way in which they’ve all dealt with the late change and the re-integrating of those other boys coming back into the side so well. For me, it shows a lot of qualities.”
And Baxter knows more of the same qualities will be needed between now and the end of the season if the Chiefs are to reach a fourth successive Premiership Final on June 1.
“This is a season where there is a trip down a pathway for us,” added Baxter. “That pathway can either lead to a home semi-final and potentially onto a final, or we can decide to stutter and step our way through it.
“What we are going to try and talk to the players about is what would a team who are genuinely thinking about winning the Premiership look like today in training, tomorrow in training, and what they will look like in a fortnight’s time against Leicester? Those are the challenges we can set ourselves over the rest of the season.”