'I don't know exactly what the rules are'
Exeter boss Rob Baxter has suggested he is unsure of the rules governing international player release if a Scotland match in the Guinness Six Nations is rescheduled for a different date. There are currently suggestions that Scotland’s game with France might be rescheduled for the weekend of March 6.
A recent outbreak in the France squad has seen ten of their players ruled out of next Sunday’s match in Paris next Sunday. There are doubts that the game will definitely go ahead, with some speculation claiming it could be held over until the following weekend.
Baxter would have been expecting Scotland captain Stuart Hogg and second row Jonny Gray to be available for Exeter selection at Bath on March 6 given that it is supposed to be a fallow Six Nations weekend.
But he admitted he wasn’t fully sure what might happen regarding his Scotland duo if their Six Nations game with France is moved and it then clashes with the Chiefs playing away to Bath in round twelve of the Premiership.
“I don’t know exactly what the rules are,” he said when asked about non-England player release for a Test match if it is rescheduled outside of the current Six Nations fixtures list. “I have seen some headlines today, different headlines have said different things.
Light at the end of the tunnel for next Sunday's France vs Scotland Six Nations game #SixNations
https://t.co/uNvP7ZGSjR— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 23, 2021
“Would the game get pushed back, would the game get postponed, (would) the points awarded to Scotland? I have seen three or four different headlines. I have only seen one that says the Scotland players would still be available to their clubs. I didn’t realise that it changed out of an international window. There is quite a lot of clarity that needs to be established before we start making any decisions.
“The only thing I can say is that the current French squad who are there together have all passed, all been negative. Normally in a Premiership weekend if you could play a team and you have passed negative tests the game can go ahead. I don’t see any reason why the game shouldn’t go ahead unless there is something else hiding in the background that we are unaware of.”
Baxter added that he would have no fears about Hogg and Gray returning to the Exeter set-up after Scotland play the French. “All you can do is ensure the team that takes the pitch is fully tested negative and that is all you can do every week. You can’t do any more than test players and they prove negative before the game happens and everyone follows the Covid protocols.
“We have had over a season now of it in the Premiership now and we have been able to deal with it on a week-by-week basis and the competition has gone ahead. I don’t see why (it won’t go ahead with) that level of testing within that French squad.
“They had all had three or four tests since they started testing positive. I know for a fact we went from some several tests to zero tests over the space of ten days and we didn’t continue to have problems and we didn’t have any issues from the games we played subsequently from that set of testing very similar to what France have gone through.”
100 per cent correct. https://t.co/vgowIRSm41
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 21, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments