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Exeter Chiefs face crisis as duo in same position head to door


Press Association
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Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter faces a problem with at least two of his three front-line hookers looking set to leave Sandy Park when their contracts run out at the end of the season.

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There are signs that they could be joined by a third, which could throw his recruitment plans into total disarray and force a dramatic rethink as clubs start to step up their transfer plans after the Christmas and New Year period.

Ex-Cornish Pirates and Wasps man Dan Frost is set to become the first player out of the exit door after we understand he has agreed to rejoin another of his former clubs, Bath, next season.

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Taunton-born Frost, 27, has started 12 of his 13 appearances this season, scoring five tries moved to Devon in October 2022 when Wasps were liquidated initially on a short-term contract before signing a two-year deal.

He could be followed out of the club by Jack Innard, who is Welsh-qualified and is on Warren Gatland’s radar for a shock call-up for the Six Nations campaign which gets underway at the end of the month.

Truro-born former England under-20 international, 29, who scored two tries in the 2018 Anglo-Welsh Cup win over Bath, joined the Chiefs in 2013 and had loan spells at Launceston, Cornish Pirates and Plymouth Albion.

He has made ten appearances for the Chiefs this season, all off the bench, including yesterday’s 28-15 defeat to Leicester Tigers. He also scored one try against the Pirates in the Premiership Cup.

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Innard had been keen on a move to Japan but is being looked at by Welsh regions encouraged by Gatland, who is leaving no stone unturned to try and turn around last year’s disastrous form.

It is understood that long-serving Exeter-born club skipper Jack Yeandle, who was signed from Doncaster Knights 13 years ago and celebrated his 35th birthday before Christmas, is yet to be offered a deal for next season.

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mJ 28 minutes ago
Wallabies' defensive woes demand overhaul to avoid Murrayfield bloodbath

They need to get the basics right and this is fundamentally their biggest issue, just like the opposite is true for their attack. The Wallabies don’t defend the gain line, teams constantly get gain line and the second is slowing down the ruck. So they are continually on the back foot and playing flat out in defence trying to get into the right positions and teams manipulate this. If the Wallabies suddenly got physical dominance with their defence and slowed each ruck down by another second or two things would be materially different. Like every 10 likes to play behind a forward pack winning gain line, every good defence benefits with time as well. If the Wallabies go out this weekend and stop Scotland gainline and slow their rucks down to 2 or 3 seconds on average our defence will be significantly better. And that is the easy fix for this weekend.

In attack our forwards need to stop being static and Lonergan needs to play with some deception and he needs to get out from behind the ruck as no one on this planet will expect him to run with the ball. Set the forward pod to go one way and then just get out and link with a runner on the opposite side. He is so one dimensional, he needs to be able to change it up and he needs to play with more tempo. So like the defence if our forwards win the gain line and rucks and we get quick ball we will stress the Scotland defence and their will be plenty of opportunities.



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