The clinical August moment which convinced Rob Baxter his Exeter would challenge for two trophies in October
Unfashionable Exeter are on the cusp of a remarkable Heineken Champions Cup/Gallagher Premiership after Rob Baxter guided them to finals that will be played on successive October weekends, starting with this Saturday’s European decider versus Racing in Bristol.
This showpiece appearance arrives ten years after the Chiefs were first promoted to the English top-flight and after lifting their first title with a 2017 extra-time win over Wasps, they are now hoping to encounter the same opposition in the Premiership decider next weekend as the newly crowned European champions.
Exeter have been largely been on fire since the post-lockdown resumption of rugby in England. They won their first six league games to guarantee home advantage at Sandy Park in the semi-final.
And while they then finished out their regular season programme with three defeats, those losses were offset by their impressive progress in Europe where they comfortably defeated Northampton and Toulouse in the quarter and semi-finals.
Exeter then defeated Bath in last weekend’s league semi-final to book another final appearance, and Baxter has now traced their rude health back to the late August destruction of Worcester on a 59-7 scoreline.
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“We understood that this was a short period to get absolutely match fit, to be at your absolute peak of playing capability,” he said. “The approach was to maximise every minute of a game to physically improve as well and what you saw in the latter stages of the competition is we did that really well.
“What really highlighted it to me that the players were really getting it was when we played Worcester here in a midweek game, our first midweek game where we went with what you call the frontline 23.
“We won it pretty well but we worked flat out until the 80th minute. Despite having a clear scoreline we actually posted some of our statistically best stats regarding distance covered both collectively and individually, the speed those distances were attained, the heart rates and workrates we managed to attain across the group.
“Effectively it became the group learning really well that the game was more than just collecting the five points, it was actually about what can we physically get out of the game – and we have seen that grow from then which is exactly what we wanted to happen.
“It was a challenge we set the players. From them on really once we had beaten Worcester, with the results that were happening around the rest of the league the challenge became far more how we can challenge ourselves physically to prepare for Heineken Cup games, Premiership semi-finals than actually the points. You probably saw that in our approach over the last month or so.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Best situation in the world for the potential of his success in the NFL. Cutthroat, we’ll yeah little buddy, that’s one of the reasons why, at least in the States, it is by far and away the best sports draw. The point is: It’s not only that he’d have Mahomes as his QB, and all the T. Kelce blocking bullshit needs to stop (he’s not a prototypical blocking TE ya numb nuts), it’s that he will have arguably one of the greatest football minds in Andy Reid scheming for him. In the NFL, the most important thing is situation. If the ignoramus Jets signed him, then he’d be screwed from go.
3 Go to commentsWe’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
3 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to comments