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Exeter boss Rob Baxter preparing for play-offs as if Sale-Worcester won't happen
Rob Baxter says that Exeter will prepare for the Gallagher Premiership play-offs as if Wednesday’s rescheduled game between Sale and Worcester “won’t happen”.
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Exeter and Wasps, who beat an inexperienced Chiefs line-up 46-5 on Sunday, are through to next weekend’s Premiership play-offs with home ties.
But neither Baxter nor his Wasps opposite number Lee Blackett know the identity of their teams’ opponents yet.
Premiership Rugby postponed the clash between Sale and Worcester on Saturday after 16 Sharks players tested positive for coronavirus.
If that game takes place – it is subject to stringent retesting – and Sale win with a bonus point, then they will travel to Wasps.
If they win without a bonus, Exeter await them at Sandy Park, but should Sale lose to Worcester, then Bath will head to Devon and Sharks are out of play-off contention.
Baxter said: “We don’t even know if the game on Wednesday is going to happen, do we?
“We will probably prepare for the table as it stands now, but I don’t think we are seeing any guarantees that the game is definitely happening.
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“And if the game doesn’t happen, we don’t know what regulations are going to be used. We are all a bit in the dark about it.
“We will prepare as if the game won’t happen, and we will build our contingency plan around whatever the result of that game will be.”
Lam wasn't beating around the bush after his side's victory over London Irish. https://t.co/A1ZT0BXc1H
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 4, 2020
Asked if he was surprised the Sale fixture was postponed and not cancelled, with Worcester awarded a 20-0 win, Baxter added: “This is the hardest thing. I don’t know what happened.
“There is so much confidentiality around medical things that I don’t know which players failed Covid tests or the testing procedure.
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“Until we know, or the people know, what has happened, saying whether it should or should not have been postponed is an impossible question to answer.
“On the whole, we are pretty good at focusing on ourselves, and nothing is going to dramatically change how we play.
The Sale Sharks DoR directly addressed reports overnight that club players partied it up after their Prem Cup win. https://t.co/CXuRtjPqAp
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 4, 2020
“It’s just about making sure the players are comfortable by making sure they have seen enough of what is coming.
“If it’s Sale, we played them twice in the Champions Cup (this season) and we played them relatively recently in the Premiership. That doesn’t feel like a big deal.
“Bristol we also played relatively recently, so there are quite a lot of things we can go back to if we need to as well.”
Blackett, meanwhile, said: “One of our big things we spoke about in the lockdown period was being adaptable, because you don’t know what is coming around the corner.
“We spoke about that early on, and we are going to have to be adaptable again.
What do you do when Trump won't let you back into the country that you play rugby for? ?
A humbling documentary about Paul Mullen on a small island off the west coast of Ireland ?? @USARugby https://t.co/fZfnupS8a7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 4, 2020
“We will try and use it as a positive because sometimes when you get to this end, people spend too much time focusing on the opposition rather than yourselves.”
Wasps had five points in the bag after just 44 minutes against Exeter, with fly-half Jacob Umaga, skipper Dan Robson, centre Jimmy Gopperth and wing Josh Bassett scoring tries, then substitute scrum-half Ben Vellacott collected a second-half double.
Gopperth finished with 19 points after also kicking four conversions and two penalties, with Rob Miller converting Vellacott’s second try and prop Danny Southworth touching down for Exeter.
Baxter, whose team secured a play-off place last month, rested international stars like Stuart Hogg, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell and Jonny Gray, fielding a largely youthful and untested line-up.
Wasps have won eight of nine league games since the Premiership restarted in August, and Blackett added: “It feels like a bit of a dream at times because of just how well it has gone.
“To get the results on the field backing up all the hard work, we are proud where we are, but there is still a big job to be done.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments