Chiefs re-sign scrumhalf duo - including England U20s star
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter insists he’s edging ever closer to putting in place his squad for next season after two more of his current stars agreed new contracts with the club.
Having already tied up the futures of a number of his squad in recent weeks, scrum-half Stuart Townsend has committed his future to the club until at the least the summer of 2021 with a new two-year deal, while fellow number nine, Jack Maunder, has also penned a fresh one-year contract with the club.
The decision by the duo is yet more welcome news for Baxter, who believes the two youngsters will continue to have important roles to play for the Devonians moving forward.
“Stu has started a Premiership-winning final and Jack has played a lot of first-team rugby and been on an England tour already, and it is incredible what they have already achieved at a young age, but in the right way as well, because they have worked hard, and people are aware that if you work hard and play well, we don’t tend to have a big hang-up about how old you are or how experienced you are,” said Baxter.
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“When you think about it, they have pretty much played all of their rugby while Exeter have been a top-four side, which is a great credit to them and probably to how well they have fitted in and how hard they have worked to be good players.”
Both players were first given their chance when Exeter suffered a scrum-half injury crisis in the 2016-17 season, when both Will Chudley and Dave Lewis were both sidelined through injury.
“Rather than us go out for injury dispensation players, we had seen them training and playing at their loan clubs and they gave us the confidence that these were the next guys who could step up and they would do a better job for us than us bringing players in, and that is great credit to them, they work hard and showed us we should have confidence in them, and then they thrived under that opportunity to play senior rugby and they have become key members of the squad.
“They are kind of what it is all about, taking opportunities while you are here as a young player, and impressing people with your attitude. You get your first foot through the door as a first-team player with the attitude you show when you are 15 or 16, it is not something that just happens when you turn 19 or 20.
“These guys were catching our eye then with the kind of people they were, and how hard they were prepared to work, and the kind of players they could potentially be, and that’s the first step really, and they have thrived from then.
“They have had their ups and downs but they have kept persevering and moving forward. They have both had some injury issues, but you will do as a young man in a really competitive position, where you do a lot of running and get through a lot of hard work, because we keep the ball on the field longer than anybody else, and that’s more taxing on scrum-halves than any other position on the field, and both those lads have really thrived in that situation.”
One of the factors behind the two players’ development has been skills coach Ricky Pellow, a former scrum-half himself.
“There is no surprise that our scrum-halves thrive here because of the quality of the individual coaching they get from Ricky,” said Baxter. “Similarly, I think our young 10s have done well here over the years because they get that real specific individual coaching from Ali Hepher.
“With Stu and Jack, they have known Ricky for a long time and they have had hundreds of hours of coaching, both individually and analysis of their games, and sitting down and going through hours of video.
“They have had a lot of input, and obviously they have got to be prepared to take that in and learn from it and use it when they are playing games, which they have done.
“I always like to credit the players for a lot of their hard work, but you have got to credit Ricky massively for how well these guys have stepped in and played frontline Premiership and European rugby.”
Baxter believes there is so much more to come from the two young scrum-halves, too.
“Jack is still at university and he has already played a lot of frontline rugby,” said Baxter. “Stu is a very young man and to have started a winning Premiership final, at the time he did and the way he did it, is incredible. They are key squad men as well. Stu is a big driver in the social committee here, and there is more to it than just playing rugby. They are good at that, but they are also really good characters and good men.
“I look at our squad for next year and I know one of our key strengths will be that most of these guys know each other, and we know them and we like the characters that they are. These two guys could potentially have 10 to 12 years ahead of them of top-flight rugby, and it will be fantastic if they keep getting better for 10 to 12 years, and those years are at Exeter, and that’s how we would like it to be.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments