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American football commentary has Baxter still believing in Exeter
Rob Baxter is hoping that the form of his Exeter for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign can resemble the NFL Dallas Cowboys. The Chiefs were hammered last weekend at Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership, their sixth loss in eleven matches this season. Having reached the Premiership final on six successive occasions between 2016 and 2021, lifting the trophy twice in the process, the famed consistency in the Exeter results has waned in recent times.
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Last season, they finished off the playoff pace in seventh place after they lost eleven of their 24 matches and this term’s results so far have also been only good enough for just seventh place again in what is now only an eleven-team Premiership following the collapse of Wasps and Worcester.
Only in the opening two weekends of the season have Exeter chalked up back-to-back wins in the league, their three other victories in the competition getting immediately followed by losses. That sequence happened again over the recent holiday period, the Chiefs’ win over Bath getting followed by their 3-35 thumping at Saracens.
Ahead of this Saturday’s home game versus Northampton, Baxter is hoping that a glance last Sunday at some NFL action on TV can help focus minds and keep Exeter believing that success is still possible this season because while Dallas have lost four games in their NFL campaign, those losses were followed by streaks of four, two, four and two wins.
“If you can get a streak of wins together the season can transform,” he suggested. “I was watching some American football commentary over the weekend.
“I can’t remember who it was, Dallas Cowboys, somebody like that, and they were talking about what a streaky team they were and how they are right in the playoffs because they have put a few wins together and their streaks have been good. That is what we have got to do. Our priority now is to have a good streak. If we can get a good streak together we will look good. If we have a poor streak it is going you look pretty dismal. That’s where we are at this stage of the season.”
The Exeter pumping at Saracens didn’t make for nice viewing for Baxter, but he insisted the setback can now be a positive for his team in the long run. “We have looked at it in great detail and have talked a lot about it – actually we had a very good conversation with the players when we first got back in about it.
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“The truth is you have got to learn from that scenario and the biggest lesson to learn is that you have to play as a team. There is a plan and what you input into the team has to make the team stronger. The team should always be stronger than the parts if you are a good side. Saracens showed that.
“Obviously, there were 20 internationals on the pitch. There were a lot of good players on the pitch but they played exceptionally well as a team. They knew their roles, they knew what to do and they did them very well. We, on the other hand, didn’t look like that. We made numerous individual errors around the field that just add up and add up and we weren’t quite sharp enough on the bits we had to.
“Our set-piece wasn’t good enough, that was very individual and that hurt us. And that is what we talked about – the lesson to learn there is how you forge yourself together as a team and whatever 15 ends up on the pitch, you have got to promote each other, you have got to benefit each other, you have got to make each other stronger.
“That has always been a huge strength of ours. That has always been one of our foundation elements and that was the lesson we learned. It was important for some of the players to learn it and talk about it because that is how you move forward. They are the games where you can choose to learn most from them.
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“We don’t need to sit here beating ourselves up about the result. What we do need is the positives we can take from it. When I say positives, I don’t mean how we played. You can’t look at it and find those positives in how we played. Some individual performances were good, particularly from a couple of younger guys. But the positive we take from it is what can we learn and what can we take from it to make us a better team.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
28 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
28 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
28 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to comments