Chiefs side to face Falcons
By Mark Stevens
28/5/21
Exeter Chiefs may have locked in the first assignment of their seasonal mission by securing their place in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs for a sixth successive season. However, Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, insists the end target is still some distance off as the season heads into its final weeks.
A Sam Simmonds-inspired victory over London Irish last time out ensured the Devonians joined league leaders Bristol Bears as two of the four semi-finalists, but who joins them and who will have home advantage next month remains very much up in the air with just three rounds of the regular season left.
For the Chiefs, the first of that triumvirate of games comes this Sunday (1:30pm) when they play host to Newcastle Falcons at Sandy Park.
In what will be the first game back for supporters since December, Baxter is hoping the buzz of the Chiefs faithful will help edge his team ever closer to the next checkpoint.
“Qualifying for the semi-finals again is great, but we’re far from qualified for that top two,” warned Baxter this week. “That’s what we want and that’s what we have been focusing on this week. We want to have that extra game here in front of our fans, so that has to be worth fighting for.”
Certainly, the Chiefs have shown they are warming to the task nicely, putting together a run of form that has seen them lose only one of their last eight in the Premiership.
“It’s been a fantastic response from the guys,” added Baxter. “We had that period a while back where we kind of needed to reset ourselves a little, but we’ve used that very well and we’ve seen the response since. In a lot of ways, it was good for us to have that open and honest conversation where we could ask questions of one another.And I guess the abiding factor that has come out of all of that is that we kind of understand now just how hard we need to work to stay around the top of any league for a sustained time.
“Right now, we are where we want to be and in that top two, but we still got lots of hard work to do. When I look at these next three games, the Sale game kind of takes care of itself because by then both of us will know what we need to do on that day. It’s these next two games which are the most important, starting with Newcastle on Sunday.
“As I’ve said to the players this week, we can’t afford any kind of slip-ups because if we do, that’s when things will go out of our control, and we can’t allow that to happen. What we have to do is lock ourselves down now and focus on the here and now. Getting to semi-finals and finals doesn’t happen unless you do the hard work in these next few weeks. Sunday is the most important game, then we will look to move onto Northampton after that.”
Standing in the way of the defending champions this weekend will be a Falcons side, who they defeated 15-9 in the corresponding fixture at Kingston Park back in early February. Baxter, though, is wary of Dean Richards’ men, who themselves have found a bit of form in recent weeks.
“A bit like Worcester a few weeks ago, it doesn’t matter what league position they are in - or whether they are going well or not - you never feel comfortable in games against them,” added Baxter. “Our message all week has been that we have to prepare for nothing other than a flat-out battle. Like we have a battle for that top two, Newcastle also have a real opportunity to finish strongly and try and get into the top eight. For a lot of clubs, getting into the top tier of Europe is a real ambition and that is something we have to be aware of because they will be fighting hard for that.”
For the first time in months, the Chiefs will have additional support with almost 4,000 packing inside Sandy Park for Sunday’s showdown. It’s the first real sign that life is getting back towards some kind of normality and Baxter says the sights of Chiefs fans in attendance at the Irish game last week served as a real fillip to everyone at the club.
“It was brilliant, wasn’t it?” said Baxter. “That showed the real value of moving the fixture back a couple of days, because it ensured a brilliant atmosphere up at Brentford. Just walking out and seeing Chiefs shirts, flags and people shouting the Tomahawk Chop, it’s what makes sport so special. It was fantastic last week and I know it will be fantastic again this weekend.”
Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter bring in Alec Hepburn and Sam Skinner to the pack in place of Ben Moon and Sean Lonsdale, while behind the sole change sees Facundo Cordero start at full-back with Stuart Hogg named among the replacements alongside fellow British & Irish Lion, Jonny Hill, who has missed the past two games.
CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE NEWCASTLE FALCONS
15 FACUNDO CORDERO
14 ALEX CUTHBERT
13 HENRY SLADE
12 OLLIE DEVOTO
11 TOM O’FLAHERTY
10 JOE SIMMONDS (CAPT)
9 JACK MAUNDER
1 ALEC HEPBURN
2 LUKE COWAN-DICKIE
3 HARRY WILLIAMS
4 JANNES KIRSTEN
5 SAM SKINNER
6 DAVE EWERS
7 JACQUES VERMEULEN
8 SAM SIMMONDS
16 JACK YEANDLE
17 BEN MOON
18 TOMAS FRANCIS
19 JONNY HILL
20 SEAN LONSDALE
21 STU TOWNSEND
22 HARVEY SKINNER
23 STUART HOGG