Chiefs side to face Castres
By Mark Stevens
20/1/23
Qualification into the last 16 of this season’s Heineken Champions Cup may have already been assured, but Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, insists the job is far from done for his side.
Tomorrow, the Chiefs wrap up their Pool A qualification with the visit of French side, Castres Olympique, who despite being pointless after their three fixtures to date, will arrive in Devon looking to grab a rare European highlight this term.
The Chiefs ensured their progress into the latter stages last weekend, this despite slipping to defeat away to the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria. Jack Innard’s last-gasp try ensured the visitors picked up a crucial losing bonus point from their first-ever visit to Loftus Versfeld.
Now, though, Baxter wants his squad to finish things off against a Castres side, who they impressively defeated 27-12 in last month’s clash at the Stade Pierre Fabre. Victory tomorrow will ensure home advantage in the next phase, a crucial factor at any time in European competition.
“The gravity of the game is something we have talked about already with the players,” said Baxter. “For us, it’s a massive opportunity to take control of elements in the competition. To get home advantage in the last 16 is huge, not just from a playing perspective, but it also gives the club a huge financial boost, as well as a better chance to qualify for the quarter-finals. The more we can do to take control of those scenarios, the better we will be.”
Having touched down in London earlier this week following their week-long stay in South Africa, the change in temperature was not the only matter the Chiefs had to contend with in the wake of their clash with the Bulls.
Henry Slade’s red card in that fixture was rightly dismissed on Tuesday evening and the England international will once again lead the Chiefs into battle against a Castres side, who will have nothing to lose, yet everything to gain this weekend.
“It’s almost a nightmare scenario for us,” warned Baxter. “It’s not even like they have a toe in the competition, they can come over here this week and do what they like. They can from their own 22, they can chip and chase, throw offloads and we have to deal with all of that. Because it’s a zero pressure scenario for them, we just don’t know what to expect from them.
“All we can do is get our heads around those threats as best we can, as well as focus fully on our own game and what we can bring to proceedings. When we played them last month, we got a lot of things right. We knew they would go hard after the breakdown, which they did, but we stuck to our game plan and we didn’t stop playing. Our discipline, our set-piece, our execution, all of that was very good in that game and it will need to be again this weekend.”
Indeed, large parts of the Exeter game plan stood up well in last week’s clash with the Bulls. It was, however, a couple of shifts in momentum, particularly after the referee changed, where the hosts were able to stick it to the Chiefs.
“For a lot of the game it was a one score game, but then the referee changed,” explained Baxter. “Once that happened, we conceded a penalty at scrum time that allowed them to score, Sladey got his red card, and they got a bit of an intercept try. For the last 20 minutes, though, it was us that started to come through fitness-wise and with our carrying. Looking back at the game this week, there was a lot more in the game than we realised.
“That said, we got a losing bonus point with 14 men which, as it turns out, qualified us for the next round and means we have out future very much in our own hands. Now, we need to grasp that opportunity. We’ve traditionally done that in the past with situations like this - and now we need to do it again!”
Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter make changes in his front-row with James Kenny and Josh Iosefa-Scott both starting in place of Scott Sio and Harry Williams, while behind them Jannes Kirsten - very impressive off the bench last week - starts at lock alongside Dafydd Jenkins. Behind the scrum, the changes in personnel see Harvey Skinner start at fly-half in place of Joe Simmonds, while Rory O’Loughlin come into the centre alongside Slade. Solomone Kata drops to the bench.
