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'Even Henry would admit he was out of sorts earlier in the season'
Exeter boss Rob Baxter believes Henry Slade is poised to enjoy a rewarding 2023 back in the thick of it with England. The midfielder slipped down the Test pecking order in the final year of the Eddie Jones era, missing last July’s tour to Australia due to a long-awaited shoulder injury and then only getting picked as a sub for all four Autumn Nations Series matches.
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Slade managed to impress with some of those Test bench cameos, his energy especially useful in the remarkable England comeback to draw with the All Blacks. He has since started the last four Exeter games at outside centre and his club coach is now tipping him for recognition under new Test-level boss Steve Borthwick.
Asked about the recent form of Slade, Baxter said at his media briefing ahead of this Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership home game versus Northampton: “He’s pretty good. His performances are on the upward curve, which is brilliant. We needed him to be. Even Henry would admit he was a little out of sorts earlier in the season.
“This last month, six weeks, he has really settled down, performing very well, very consistently. Good time on the training field, good time on the field. He is definitely one of those guys who is on the right path to be showing good form in the Six Nations, without a doubt.”
November wasn’t the greatest month for Exeter players at Twickenham. Aside from the role of Slade being limited to the bench, Jack Nowell was a late cry-off versus Japan and was dropped versus South Africa, as was Luke Cowan-Dickie, while Sam Simmonds rotated an England starting role with Billy Vunipola.
“I could have continued on with it but it was really starting to affect me a bit more…”
– England's @Sladey_10 on summer surgery, the @ExeterChiefs reset and Stuart Hogg's fake tan, w/@heagneyl ??? #EnglandRugby https://t.co/CMW8xwmMAJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 13, 2022
Queried if the subsequent change in leadership from Jones to Borthwick has had a galvanising effect on the England Test players in the Exeter squad, Baxter added: “We have been so in the thick of it with week-by-week games, I don’t think anybody has stopped and thought that far ahead. At the moment when these guys who are involved in the EPS squad are playing, they are playing well. That’s all I can say.
“I actually thought Jack Nowell was probably our best player at Saracens. That’s a guy who can just get on with things in different situations, even when it is tough. He just gets on with things and makes things go his way, so he is bang-on form. And certainly, Henry is showing some real form and is on that upward curve now where he has been before.
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“Luke Cowan-Dickie scored a hat-trick last time he played and was the man of the match (against the Bulls last month), so I don’t think you can say anybody is not enthused by what they are doing. They are all looking forward to it.”
Quizzed how the 29-year-old Slade coped with his below-par form earlier in the season, Baxter continued: “Every player has to go through those kinds of moments where things go well for you, you work hard and you feel you are on a natural path and things tick along – and then come those bits of frustration and disappointment and they can dent you a little bit.
“Other things change in your life, young children come along, your lifestyle changes and you reset yourself. I look at Henry and think he is a guy that can very much move forward and have some very good years because of the player he is. He is a good footballer, a good guy to be around.
“He works hard and is diligent in what he does. There is a lot left in him. I’m not concerned about him being someone who is on a downward curve at all. Him managing himself, us managing him – I am not talking about physical management because he is not a guy who is carrying injuries, knocks, bangs and bruises.
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“I’m just talking about that mental approach to everything that you do and that freshness and that enthusiasm. That is making sure we as a group of coaches and him as a player, we just want to drive that all the time.”
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 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
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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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.
27 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 comments