'Frustrated' Rob Baxter accepts harsh truth before Racing 92 clash

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter admits that he will be ringing the changes, resting his international stars and sending a second string into the lion’s den to face Top 14 giants Racing 92 for Sunday’s Challenge Cup tie.

England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Wallabies flanker Tom Hooper, and Wales lock Dafydd Jenkins all face a mandatory rest period following their involvement in the Quilter Nations Series.

Baxter is also set to leave his star centre duo, Henry Slade and Len Ikitau, in Devon, and has also said that Italian international lock Andrea Zambonin will be given time off.

They will all return to the line-up when the second-placed Chiefs visit Saracens in the Gallagher PREM on Saturday week, and he will give players crushed 34-3 in the PREM Rugby Cup at Sale Sharks a chance to impress in Paris.

“We only have a short turnaround to Saracens in the Premiership because we go from Sunday to Saturday. We do have to give these lads a rest at some stage.

Fixture

Challenge Cup

Racing 92

05:00

14 Dec 25

Exeter Chiefs

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“We have a group of three, we have to give a mandatory rest at some stage, and then we have a group of guys like Henry Slade who were in the international camp for the full period of the PREM Rugby.

“Len Ikitau has obviously been involved in 13-14 Test matches in a very short period, and Len was fully involved in that. Zambo (Andrea Zambonin) was pretty full on during that international period.

“So we have got guys that we need to give a break to and need to give a rest to, but also we have got a wider squad we need to use if we are going to have any success across three competitions.

“We are aware from last season, you cannot run the same guys out week in and week out through all of the competitions because sooner or later, you just run out of steam.

“At the moment, we have got a good energy and a good vibe, and we were frustrated about the Sale game and are expecting better from those players who played in that PREM Cup period,” said Baxter.