'If I'm being honest, he's probably has exceeded my expectations a little bit'
Rob Baxter has rewarded the fine form of South African import Jannes Kirsten with a new contract extension at Gallagher Premiership leaders, Exeter Chiefs. Brought in last summer as injury dispensation for summer signings Tom Price and Will Witty, the 26-year-old former Bulls forward has certainly delivered on all fronts since arriving in Devon.
Kirsten’s hard-hitting, no-nonsense approach, together with his fantastic work ethic, have not only won him many admirers within the game, but has also seen him establish himself as an integral cog in the Exeter engine room.
With three tries in 22 games already, even Baxter admits Kirsten’s form has probably exceeded his own expectations.
“Obviously, Jannes has had a great season so far,” said the Chiefs’ Director of Rugby. “When we talk to players about coming in and they ask me about what they think we as a club can do for them as a player, I always tell them that we will create an environment here which, if they are prepared to work hard enough, they will thrive in.
“In Jannes’ case, that’s exactly what he has been willing to do. From the moment he turned up from South Africa, he’s just go on with things and done everything we have asked of him. He’s played a lot of rugby and dropped into things very quickly, but that’s down to him and wanting to learn and get involved as soon as he could.
“Initially he showed all the things we knew he had in his game, like his physicality in his carrying and his tackling and that he was a good set-piece forward, but what he has also been able to show over the period of time he has been at the club is develop other parts of his game without losing that input he is having in games.”
Baxter continued: “If I’m being honest, he’s ticked an awful lot of boxes and probably has exceeded my expectations a little bit. The speed in which he has done things and the influence he has brought in games, those are things you hope for when you sign a new player, but sometimes you don’t always get so early on.
“Very often for players their first year is not necessarily their best year, it’s normally a tough year and they start get better and improve over the next year or so. Jannes, on the other hand, has been heavily involved from day one and he has to take an awful lot of credit for that.
“He’s come in and really impressed in a short space of time. It was a big call for him to make, coming over here on a one-year deal, but he’s come in and he’s proved his value, on and off the field, and that in turn has earned him a contract extension.”
Alongside compatriot Jacques Vermeulen, the two South Africans have been very much at the heart of a lot of Exeter’s success this season, helping the Chiefs not only lead the Premiership, but to also book their place in the last eight of the Heineken Champions Cup.
The two house-mates have been destructive, on-field forces for Baxter’s side and it’s little surprise their leader has been singing their praises.
“We talk a lot about retaining our players is a big part of what we are about here at the club, simply because they know what we do and what we expect each season,” explained Baxter. “That said, you do need a little bit of turnover because you need everybody to be challenged and you have that freshness within the squad.
“What you’ve seen this season with both Jannes and Jacques coming in is two guys who have got stuck in from the outset and who have helped to re-establish some new challenges in and around the back five of our scrum. It’s fantastic the energy and the enthusiasm that they bring, but they are also helping to keep standards moving upwards.
“Any successful squad has to have good depth to it, but it also needs to be competitive in all areas as well. I’m more than comfortable that guys come in and shake things up within a group. That’s what they have done and in turn it has helped to bring the best out in others as well.”
With Kirsten the latest name to commit his future to the Chiefs, Baxter knows he is once again piecing together a powerful array of talent for next season.
“We’re getting there in terms of the overall squad make-up,” he continued. “Having Jannes commit is another big plus for us. There are still one or two things still to do, but we’re in a good place.
“In the case of Jannes, like I’ve said about a few of the guys, I still believe there is more to come in terms of his development. We have seen in the past with players that come in from Super Rugby, getting that regular week-to-week structure into them can make a real difference.
“I have no doubt we will see Jannes and Jacques improve even more over this next 12 months, so it will be nice to see how far that development can really go.”
Source: Exeter Chiefs
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 …
26 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!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 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.
26 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.
26 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