'Why on earth are these lads not going to go to Leicester, Bath or Northampton'

Twelve years ago, Exeter Chiefs lifted the first major trophy in their 143-year history, beating Northampton Saints 15-8 to win the LV= Cup final, and it became the springboard for a golden period in the club’s history.

They reached six successive Prem finals, winning two and the Champions Cup in 2020 to complete the double, and boss Rob Baxter hopes that victory at Welford Road this afternoon will be the springboard to a similar golden era.

He says he sees many similarities between his team back then, which included youngsters like Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell, and the one now, with the likes of Campbell Ridl, Ollie Batson and Ben Coen.

“I remember talking to the players and saying, right, we’ve had a few years now in the Premiership and, you know, we’ve played the underdog card extremely well.

“You know, year one and year two, everyone’s saying that we’ll probably be the team relegated and, you know, that sort of stuff. And I think we played that very well, the thought of proving everyone wrong.

“But at some stages, you do have to take the next step, and I actually remember looking around the changing room and seeing Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Jack Nowell.

“And I was thinking, if I don’t start talking about winning things at some stage, why on earth are these lads not going to decide to go to Leicester or Bath or Northampton, the teams that were winning trophies at that stage.

“And as that season unwound, it became very important for us to be targeting winning. And we did really well until we won it, and then we pretty much didn’t go with the celebrations for about three weeks, and that was the end of the season for us.

“But it was certainly a catalyst to allow us to talk and act and think in a different way. And from then on, you start thinking and talking like winners,” said Baxter.