Baxter keen to move on after win over 'cheats' Saracens
Exeter boss Rob Baxter declared the Chiefs could put their anger at Saracens’ salary cap breach behind them following a 14-7 victory over their arch-rivals – only to then brand them “cheats”.
In the first clash since Saracens were docked 35 points and fined £5.4million for breaking the Gallagher Premiership’s ceiling on player wages, Exeter emerged winners through tries by Nic White and Jacques Vermeulen.
The Chiefs have been the greatest victims of the scandal after losing the two most recent Premiership finals to the champions, who were found to have transgressed for each of the last three seasons.
Owner Tony Rowe has demanded Saracens be stripped of their titles and threatened legal action.
Having initially struck a conciliatory tone after the triumph at Sandy Park, Baxter then opened fire on Mark McCall’s men.
“The best thing about getting this game done is that we can move on,” Baxter said.
“This is a third of the way through the Premiership and we don’t play Saracens again until May, so we need to move on because there are a lot of other important games to play.
“The players have lost a couple of finals to Saracens and they want to be successful in their own right. They want to be winning trophies and titles themselves.
England's midfield will have to make do without Slade it has been revealed. #6Ns #6Nations #EnglandRugbyhttps://t.co/MsWwrnnaBu
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 29, 2019
“People have to be careful thinking that Exeter’s only motivation is Saracens because it’s not. Saracens are just one step of the journey.”
But Baxter then continued on BBC Radio 5 Live: “There are supporters of rugby clubs who have watched coaches getting sacked and players leave and all different kinds of things, and part of that has been because of Saracens cheating. You can’t run away from it.
“Sometimes the people who have pointed out that Saracens have cheated almost get pointed out to be the bad guys.
This grudge match was always going to boil over and it did in the 76th minute. #EXEvSARhttps://t.co/VkrPalfQKP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 29, 2019
“Well, the people who have made comment on it aren’t the cheats. And that is the bit that some rugby supporters have felt more frustrated about.”
Exeter’s win was marred by a red card shown to Harry Williams who, having been substituted, later left the dug-out to get involved in a mass brawl.
“I have had a chat with Harry and he is obviously disappointed with it,” Baxter said.
“He has not gone in there and done anything physically violent. He has gone in there because he saw an Exeter Chiefs player was surrounded and mobbed. He felt he was helping out.
“We need to have a good look at it and see what the outcome of that will be because ultimately that is an important player who may not be available for a period of time.”
Rob Baxter: A lot of other important games to play. So many other teams to play. Great as it is to win today we need to move on. pic.twitter.com/D3XFZwZ820
— Exeter Chiefs (@ExeterChiefs) December 29, 2019
Saracens picked up a losing bonus point in their quest to escape relegation and McCall saw no shame in losing at Sandy Park.
“We have nine games after the Six Nations and I know we are capable of going on a good run then,” he said.
? "We have such good competition against this team."
? "We didn't worry about what was in front of us."
Jack Nowell and Joe Simmonds speak to @Sarraelgan following Exeter Chiefs' victory over Saracens… pic.twitter.com/JD0X7iDKAe
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) December 29, 2019
“We have to pick up what we can now and a point at Exeter isn’t a complete disaster. The players stuck in there right until the end.
“We had a lot of time close to their goal line and we just weren’t good enough to capitalise.
“Some of it was magnificent defence from Exeter, but if you come away from home you need to take advantage of those chances.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments