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Baxter accuses Northampton of prop crisis 'mind games'

By PA
(Photo by Ashley Western/PA Images via Getty Images)

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter was happy to help Northampton in their efforts to plug their loosehead prop injury crisis, but believes recent comments from the Saints have been verging on the side of mind games.

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The two Gallagher Premiership teams will go head-to-head at Sandy Park on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup. Ahead of the clash, Saints feared being forced into uncontested scrums with Francois van Wyk, Alex Waller, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi and Nick Auterac all out injured, which left rookie teenager Manny Iyogun as the club’s only fit loosehead.

However, the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) board on Thursday morning allowed Gloucester’s Alex Seville to sign for Northampton and unanimously agreed to a change in the tournament rules which permits the registration of front row players after the deadline.

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The Rugby Pod reacts to the red card that has ruled Saracens’ Owen Farrell out of this weekend’s European game at Leinster

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The Rugby Pod reacts to the red card that has ruled Saracens’ Owen Farrell out of this weekend’s European game at Leinster

Exeter boss Baxter was pleased to see the situation resolved but said: “Outside of what has been seen in the media, club-wise we have known about this ongoing scenario and the need for EPCR to make a rule change for quite a while.

“We certainly made it clear to Northampton when they contacted us that if the EPCR asked for any kind of rule which would allow them to register an extra player, we would agree with that and support it which we have done.

“It is interesting listening to some of the comments coming out of Northampton because just a couple of weeks ago, we played against them in a Premiership fixture and had a tighthead (Alfie Petch) on the bench, who came on and played.

“He had not played a minute of Premiership Rugby, was 20-years-old and I can’t remember anything being in the press about there being any issues about a guy playing his first minute of Premiership Rugby and the same two sides were involved.

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“Some of it is a little bit mind games if I am honest and a scenario that potentially isn’t really there when you look at what clubs have been doing in the games anyway.”

Northampton approached the EPCR about their loosehead issues before van Wyk suffered an injury at Leicester on Sunday and had to be replaced by inexperienced teenager Iyogun. Saints rugby director Chris Boyd’s insisted: “Manny is a 19-year-old boy who played all his football at number eight and had never really played in a men’s scrum before.”

It was also suggested Leicester’s Dan Cole had gone easy on Iyogun and Northampton look set to start emergency loan signing Seville this weekend. “We don’t know how long he has been training with them,” Baxter added when asked about the Gloucester prop, who featured against Exeter in a league fixture earlier this month.

“They have been waiting for the EPCR regulations, so we don’t know how long he has been there preparing. That is one question. The other side is Alex played against us not very long ago, for Gloucester so he is more than capable of surviving against our front row.

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“Every club has these challenges at certain times of introducing new players at short notice. He will be fine and I don’t think that will be a defining moment of the game, what will be the defining part of the game is which club turns up.”

While Saints have won the tournament before and were runners up nine years ago, the best Exeter have managed – despite their recent domestic dominance – is a single quarter-final. Baxter’s side lost to Wasps at that stage in 2016 but Chiefs are a different proposition now, have reached the last four Premiership finals and face a Northampton team who have lost their last five games.

He added: “I’d like to think the magnitude of the game will help with us that [complacency]. This is a European Cup quarter-final, it is a competition we want to do well in. We haven’t gone beyond this stage before. This is something we should certainly be targeting as a team.

“I would like to think regardless of the opposition, we would have an ability to focus on ourselves and look to put out what should be players preparing to have their best game of the season.”

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Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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