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Baxter gives his take on Jack Nowell wearing the Munster shirt
Last Saturday’s bizarre sight of Exeter winger Jack Nowell wearing a Munster jersey while seated in the Thomond Park stands on his stag do was much commented on over the course of the latest round of Heineken Champions Cup action. The England player himself detailed his adventurous weekend in Ireland during a podcast appearance at the start of this week, explaining how the trip came about and what his fan experience was like in Limerick.
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However, Nowell added that he was unsure what Rob Baxter, the Exeter coach, would make of one of his star players wearing the jersey of the team the Chiefs were playing. He was on a day off on Monday, as were all the Exeter players as their next game against Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership isn’t until next Sunday.
That left Nowell, who is currently sidelined with a broken arm, not knowing the feelings of Baxter and it would only be on Tuesday when he reported for training that he would find out. The England player turned up on time, as did all the other players who were on the stag and with him in the stands at the match in Ireland.
So what did Exeter boss Baxter make of seeing Nowell wearing the Munster colours? “It’s a difficult one,” admitted the coach on Thursday when he held his media briefing ahead of this weekend’s league visit to Saracens. “The first time I saw it was on Sunday when we got back and I was reviewing the game and that comes on TV.
“It’s a tough one because you are looking at the grandstand with a lot of good players who are not available to play in the game through no fault of their own, they have just picked up injuries. We have a thing here, work hard and play hard and we like the guys to enjoy their rugby, we like the guys to enjoy their relationship with supporters and fans and enjoy the real rugby side of playing rugby.
“Munster, without doubt, is a great place to go and watch rugby and be involved on the weekend and I know our supporters feel that so it was a bit of double edge sword really. Obviously it is great to see the guys enjoying themselves and enjoying each other’s company and seeing some old players there making the effort to get over with Jack. At the same time it is slightly frustrating that they were in the grandstand and not on the rugby field.”
What got said then when Nowell turned up for training on Tuesday? “It was all fine. I knew the stag do was happening. The guys had told me and asked if everything was okay. We had the Monday off anyway with it being a Sunday game this week, they had the additional day off and we were back in on the Tuesday and they were all back.
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“Everyone who was there was back in full training on time on Tuesday, that wasn’t an issue for us at all and obviously it is a good opportunity next week for Jack to get married because we are into a bye week and have a weekend off and we have give the guys a few days off. To be fair to him he planned it pretty well even though we didn’t really know what was happening. It’s all fallen pretty well.”
So when is Nowell’s big wedding day? “It isn’t clashing with the game (at Saracens). I don’t know how much Jack is happy for me to say. It is kind in the three, four-day period in and around the weekend, that is probably all I should say. I don’t really want to give out the date in case he is trying to keep that quiet.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
60 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
60 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
60 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
60 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
60 Go to comments