Chiefs side to face Gloucester
By Mark Stevens
11/2/22
Rob Baxter has told his Exeter Chiefs to once again ‘lay it on the line’ as they continue their push to be part of the Gallagher Premiership play-offs this season.
Not for the first time this season, the Chiefs were undone right at the death during last weekend’s home defeat to Wasps. Paulo Odogwu’s try deep into added on time proved to be the killer blow for the Midlanders, who battled back valiantly in the final ten minutes to sink their youthful hosts.
Now, Baxter and his squad must go again, this time against an in-form Gloucester outfit, who arrive at Sandy Park sitting third in the table and desperate to avenge a 16-13 loss to the Chiefs back in October.
The Chiefs Director of Rugby admitted this week that the Wasps loss had been tough to stomach, particularly given the effort displayed by his players for long period of that game. That said, the need to respond tomorrow is clearly evident with games fast running out of time.
“It was one of those games, where had we seen if off at the end, you would probably be sitting here now saying it was one of the best performances to be involved in from a coaching perspective,” said Baxter. “Certainly, that’s how I felt – and I know the other coaches feel like that as well.
“That’s why we still have to feel good about the good things in that game. There is obvious learns for mistakes we made - and we did make mistakes, particularly those bunched together in that last seven or eight minutes – but, like I said, if any of those mistakes doesn’t happen, we probably end up winning the game.
“Even when we are on our own line, if we don’t give up quite a quick penalty that gives them the last maul chance, had we not done that and defended for another 30 seconds, the game is over by the time they score the try and take the conversion.
“That’s how close it got towards the end, so that’s why we have to congratulate the players for the things that went well. We have to congratulate them for the intensity we played at; the emotion we laid out on the field; how hard they were willing to work; the way we put defensive sets together; some of the stuff we showed in attack was first class, some of the best stuff we’ve had this season, so we are going to be genuinely talking about that.
“The key now is this group have to go out and do it all over again this weekend. If you take your foot off the gas, it doesn’t matter who you play in the Premiership, you will lose. You won’t even give yourself a chance of winning, so the important things for us is to refresh ourselves this week and get ready to go out and lay it all on the line again.”
With the Chiefs ravaged due to international call-ups, injuries and illness within the camp, Baxter knew the stage was there for a number of his young players to step up and stake their claim.
On the day, they did not disappoint, combining well with some of the more established players to produce a performance that clearly invigorated not only the players and coaches themselves, but also the majority of supporters packed into Sandy Park last weekend.
Baxter added: “I’ve just said to the guys, it might have felt heart-breaking after the game, especially the way we lost right at the end. However, you should only be heartbroken if you have worked hard and laid it all out on the field. We did that - and that’s how you get better.
“Now, we have got to at least perform to that level again. We don’t want to back off from that now and we have got to get ourselves enthusiastic for the fight. I keep saying to the lads, this would be one hell of a season to get to a final or win a trophy because it does feel that things are stacking up a little bit and we are under a bit of pressure.
“That top four is not too far away, the top two a little further, and we have been in and around the top two for a few years now, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get ready for the fight and be that team that is determined to go on a run and determined to fight our way into that top four. Let’s show that fight and bring the best out in ourselves.
“There is a lot in this season still for us. We’ve got seven guys away on international duty, others are injured, so that’s a third of our squad missing. Equally, we have big players coming back from injury and lots of things in the future to feel good about. It’s these next three or four weeks, however, that will give us the opportunity for that to count later down the line.”
As for the threat of the Cherry & Whites, Baxter says he has been impressed by their displays this season and sounded a word of warning to his squad to be on their guard.
“Gloucester are third and they deserve to be where they are,” he said. “Looking at them, they look comfortable and aligned with one another, George [Skivington] has got them bang on in a lot of things they do, and the players are playing with a smile on their faces. What we have got to do is play in a way that makes them uncomfortable and question what they want to do. Looking at our lads this week, I’m confident we have that in us.”
Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter stick with a largely unchanged line-up. The sole change in the pack sees Don Armand return on the flank in place of Lewis Pearson, while behind the scrum, Ian Whitten is also back to start in the midfield alongside Tom Hendrickson.
On the bench, there is also a welcome return to the fold for Dave Ewers, after he was forced to miss last weekend’s game through illness, and a first-ever call-up to the squad for Scottish Under-20s international Ollie Leatherbarrow. Props Marcus Street and Billy Keast also come into the squad.
