Focus will be on ourselves - Baxter
By Mark Stevens
5/10/20
Rob Baxter says his Exeter Chiefs squad will prepare for this weekend's Gallagher Premiership play-offs as if Wednesday’s rescheduled game between Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors “won’t happen”.
Exeter and Wasps, who beat an inexperienced Chiefs line-up 46-5 on Sunday, are through to next weekend’s Premiership play-offs with home ties. But neither Baxter nor his Wasps opposite number Lee Blackett know the identity of their teams’ opponents yet.
Premiership Rugby postponed the clash between Sale and Worcester on Saturday after 16 Sharks players tested positive for coronavirus.
If that game takes place – it is subject to stringent retesting – and Sale win with a bonus point, then they will travel to Wasps.
If they win without a bonus, Exeter await them at Sandy Park, but should Sale lose to Worcester, then Bath will head to Devon and the Sharks are out of play-off contention.
Baxter said: “We don’t even know if the game on Wednesday is going to happen, do we?
“We will probably prepare for the table as it stands now, but I don’t think we are seeing any guarantees that the game is definitely happening.
“And if the game doesn’t happen, we don’t know what regulations are going to be used. We are all a bit in the dark about it.
“We will prepare as if the game won’t happen, and we will build our contingency plan around whatever the result of that game will be.”
Asked if he was surprised the Sale fixture was postponed and not cancelled, with Worcester awarded a 20-0 win, Baxter added: “This is the hardest thing. I don’t know what happened. There is so much confidentiality around medical things that I don’t know which players failed Covid tests or the testing procedure.
“Until we know, or the people know, what has happened, saying whether it should or should not have been postponed is an impossible question to answer. On the whole, we are pretty good at focusing on ourselves, and nothing is going to dramatically change how we play."
On a disappointing afternoon for the Chiefs, Baxter did his best to reflect on his side's showing at the Ricoh Arena.
He added: "I don't mind us losing heavily and I actually think it might be a good thing for us, especially when you look at the number of young players in the team.
"The hardest thing for a young academy player is to genuinely understand how tough Premiership Rugby is. Day's like today make you understand how tough it is.
"It's important sometimes you have a littler refresher, and a little slap in the face as any type of player or coach, because it just reminds you it is the day-to-day hard work that gets you the rewards you want."