Lions stars focused on task ahead
By Mark Stevens
28/5/21
Rob Baxter says his British & Irish Lions contingent are fully focused on club matters ahead of Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership encounter with Newcastle Falcons at Sandy Park (1.30pm).
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill, Stuart Hogg and Sam Simmonds all reported in for an administration day with the rest of Warren Gatland’s squad earlier this week in London.
But now they are safely back in harness here in Devon and ready to play their part as the defending Premiership champions look to try and cement home advantage in the end of season play-offs.
With their last four placed already secured following their win at London Irish last time out, Baxter now wants his troops to complete the next phase of the mission, ensuring they will be on familiar soil for next month semi-finals.
Just three rounds of the regular season remain for the Chiefs, starting with the visit of the Falcons this weekend, then clashes with Northampton Saints (June 6) and Sale Sharks (June 12).
Currently, Bristol Bears lead the way in the standings on 76 points, eight clear of next-best Chiefs, who themselves hold a slender four-point advantage over Sale and seven over fourth-placed Harlequins.
These final few weeks promise to be an intriguing battle for all four clubs and Baxter knows the importance each fixture will play in the final shake-up.
And helping to lead that charge will be his newly-named Lions, who are set to tackle world champions South Africa this summer.
“They are level-headed guys, they will take it in their stride and they will get on,” said Baxter. “We have got our training day today and they will be back in the swing of things and ready to go on Sunday.
“I’m pretty comfortable with it all. I’m really pleased for them. They have got the opportunity of this experience. Being part of the Lions, it’s just an incredible thing to achieve as a rugby player, but at the same time now my job is to just go right, as good as it [Lions administration day] was guys, the best thing in your life this weekend is playing Newcastle in front of Exeter Chiefs supporters, so let’s get our feet on the ground and let’s get a good job done.”
Sunday’s game will mark the first time since December that supporters have been allowed back into Sandy Park. With almost 4,000 set to attend, it will be a great opportunity for Chiefs fans to salute their heroes, most notably Simmonds, whose hat-trick against Irish saw him break the Premiership record for most tries in a season.
His treble in the capital took him to 19 for the season and with three games still to play, there is every hope he will add to the record, which was previously held by Christian Wade (Wasps) and Dominic Chapman (Richmond).
In the immediate wake of his record-breaking Premiership scoring exploits in London last week, Simmonds was selflessly effusive in his praise of his team-mates for their enthusiasm in creating try chances for him. Baxter described that sort of generous reaction from the No.8 as in keeping with what he has experienced working with Simmonds and his out-half brother Joe.
“He [Sam] is a good guy first and foremost. He and his brother are local players, they came through the academy, they have done it the right way. It has not been easy for them, they have spent time on loan, they have spent time waiting behind senior players, they have worked exceptionally hard and they have taken opportunities when they have come along. They have done it all the right way and they are not silly.
“They know the systems and the way we play, they know their roles in helping other people at times and they probably don’t get the credit for some of the stuff that they do to help other players to help the team and so they are very aware of the players that help them.
“Sam knows we have some high expectations of what he can do on the ball so as much as he should and it is only right – it’s the proper thing to thank the other players for helping him score the tries – at the same time I can tell you right now the other players are very grateful for the things he contributes to get us near the line and then also get us over the line.
“It’s a two-way street and that is the way a good team should function, they appreciate each other’s roles, they appreciate each other’s strengths and weaknesses and they appreciate how important they are to each other because that is what you see with Sam, he just has an understanding of how important they all are to each other.
“It’s not so much that he is necessarily grateful but he really understands that they are all important to each other and they all make things work for each other and we have got a lot of players. Most good teams would say the same, they don’t really care who scores but they care about winning and for our team we care about Sam scoring tries.
“You could see it in the lads’ faces because they want someone to score records, they want someone to set high standards, they want someone to win something and to have those personal achievements as well and that kind of living through each other’s success, they have that in a big way. What you just see is a mutual respect and a mutual understanding of each other.”