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Exeter boss Rob Baxter has welcomed Saracens’ return to the Gallagher Premiership where the fierce rivals – they have met in three of the last six Premiership finals at Twickenham – will lock horns again this season. Relegated from the Premiership in 2020 following persistent salary cap breaches for which they were fined more than £5million, Saracens will play their first domestic top-flight game for almost a year when they tackle Bristol at Ashton Gate on Friday.
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Mark McCall’s men are back following an expected and emphatic Championship title-winning campaign last term, and the bookmakers have installed Saracens as joint title favourites with Exeter. “They are going to be a very good side,” Baxter said. “You look at the squad list, it is a good group of players.
“They have always been well-coached, well-run and well-motivated, so they are going to be a huge challenge to every team they play. They always have been, and it looks like they always will. I don’t think that is a bad thing for the Premiership. Challenges are what it is all about. We have probably accelerated our improvement as a team based on having a team like Saracens to go after.
“For me, I don’t see it as a negative that there is a team there that will challenge you and that you may have to set very high standards to beat. I actually think that is what sport is all about. I don’t have an issue with that. Ultimately, if it is a competitive league and everyone is taking points off each other, what does that mean? It probably means you need a bit less to get in the top four. It has always been a tough competition and that won’t change,” continued the Exeter boss ahead of a campaign featuring a 13-team line-up as no one was relegated from the 12-club Premiership which took place minus Saracens.
The 2021/22 Premiership season is set to see sell-out crowds returning following the coronavirus pandemic-related difficulties of the past 18 months. Baxter accepts that there is a way to go yet, but he is enthused by what could lie ahead. “I am delighted we are coming out of it,” he added.
"The relentlessness of it is amusing"
– Saracens' return to the Premiership has reminded returned loanee Alex Lozowski just how disliked the London club is…#PremRugby #Sarries #BRIvSARhttps://t.co/3uZUaK42EX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 15, 2021
“I still think there will be some repercussions down the line for a couple of years, as most businesses will probably say. I know for ourselves it will take us a little while to get on the positive side, financially, but some of the things we are doing here will hopefully speed up that process. How other clubs are is not really for me to say. You could still see some clubs in a financial position that is almost impossible to get out of. I don’t know.
“What we have got to do now is kind of work together as a group of Premiership sides to produce something that people want to watch and be involved in, and hopefully we will have plenty of sell-out crowds at all the grounds and show a positive way forward. Supporters love watching teams that win, of course they do, but actually the most important thing is that they want to feel part of the journey, part of the team and part of what we are all doing and enjoying.”
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Premiership clubs will be allowed to relax some elements of current Covid-19 minimum operating standards once an 85-per-cent-or-more fully vaccinated rate has been reached in both the player and staff groups. Baxter said: “Our approach as a club is that we care for our players getting vaccinated. We are very much encouraging it and we are doing everything we can to facilitate that.
“At the same time, we are also aware that there is an independent right for guys to accept it or not have it. Our stance is that we are not going to force any player to have it, but we will encourage them all to have it. I could quite conceivably see that the majority of the clubs, if not all, will be at that level (85 per cent) of vaccination within the next few weeks, if not a couple of months.”
The round nine Premiership fixture on November 28 in Manchester between Sale and Saracens is sure to emotionally test Sanderson in a way that he hasn't yet experienced in charge at the Sharks…https://t.co/Habk4umQAh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 12, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments