'There's a huge amount of inconsistency': Baxter hits out after Ewers, Skinner bans
Bemused Exeter boss Rob Baxter has hit out against the mechanics of the system that has resulted in Chiefs pair Sam Skinner and Dave Ewers each getting four-match bans which rules them out of this Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership semi-final at home to Sale. Both players got into disciplinary trouble in last weekend’s round 22 Sandy Park fixture versus the Sharks, Skinner getting red-carded in the second half and Ewers cited following his first-half yellow card.
Both Skinner and Ewers contested the charges, which resulted in no mitigation getting applied to their bans. Baxter’s disappointment, though, wasn’t focused on the length of respective bans. Instead, he was upset with the decision-making that resulted in Exeter duo Skinner and Ewers getting in trouble in the first place and how the system doesn’t show any empathy to the modern-day player.
“I’m very disappointed,” lamented Baxter at his media conference on Wednesday shortly after it became public knowledge that Exeter would be minus two suspended forwards for their rematch with Sale. “If I’m honest I’m struggling with the whole process and everything about it a little bit. There is a huge amount of inconsistency, a lack of empathy for the players involved in the incidents.
“It is definitely getting to the stage where the players that are currently playing the game need to have – or need to decide through the RPA on how they are going to do it – a lot more input into how the whole process around making laws, how they are refereed, cited etc. The game needs to be about the players who are playing now and it doesn’t feel like that at all.
“There is not a single player, person or coach who does not agree that you have to have a level of protection for the players who are playing the game. I’m talking about physical protection, but you also have to have protection for the players who are playing the game as regards playing the game of rugby and that balance has disappeared.
The two Exeter forwards who got into disciplinary trouble last Saturday against Sale have learned their fate#EXEvSAL
https://t.co/PRjw8g8qfP— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 16, 2021
“There is a huge amount of inconsistency both in the process and in the various scenarios. Only a couple of weeks ago, Luke Cowan-Dickie got a pretty high tackle in front of our posts. Most people would have said it was pretty much direct contact to the jaw which was deemed a rugby incident, not even a penalty, and everyone carries on. The independent match day doctor then forces him to be removed from the field for an HIA for an incident that is not even deemed a penalty, so we have to lose a player to be assessed when it is not even deemed by any official, the TMO, to have had contact with the head.
“That is just one incident and then the two instances last Saturday, you have got a scenario where the referee deems one incident a yellow card because he sees mitigating factors and then the Sam Skinner incident, it’s deemed there is not enough mitigating evidence and so the referee has got one thing completely right but he has got the other incident completely wrong so is the referee right or wrong, is the TMO right or wrong?
“What is happening now from many of these situations is frighteningly inconsistent and there really needs to be a move by the players playing the game to take hold of this a little bit because if you asked a large swathe of the players playing now I don’t think they would agree with what is currently happening.
“None of us is naive not to realise this has come about based on movements by ex-players which is fine, I don’t necessarily have a problem with. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have a say in things because of course they should because they have been playing the game, but the players who are playing the game should also have an equal if not bigger say and at the moment it is something in their hands and I get a growing feeling amongst the players I talk to, not only at this club, that is something not far off happening.”
Asked to elaborate on the allegation of a lack of empathy being shown to players, Exeter boss Baxter focused on the Ewers citing. “Dave is 30 now, played international rugby, played numerous Heineken Cup games, Premiership games and in all that time he has never had one card for foul play, not even a yellow let alone a red. Nothing.
“Surely the procedure you go into that and say, listen this guy is clearly not a guy who has been running around and committing foul play and he has played numerous games under the new rules. It’s not like just saying, oh well this is what happens under the new regulations and new guidelines etc, he has played the game under those and not had a problem.
“In my opinion, there is an empathy position that they need to start with, right clearly this guy is not someone who goes around looking to high tackle people. Straight away my thoughts would be we need to look here, see what has created the scenario and what is the empathy side of it, but it’s not done like that.
“It’s just, ah Exeter basically have to try to prove that the citing commissioner is wrong to think this could possibly be upgraded to a red card, so the whole scenario is not based on any empathy to the player. I’m not saying there isn’t a need to look at head contact – of course there is – but there are two sides to every process and it is kind of not feeling like that at the moment.”
Baxter added: “The actual ruling post (the hearing) is not a problem, I understand that. I’m not complaining that the four-week ban should be a different ban, I’m talking about how they actually get found to be guilty in the first place.”
Sale versus Exeter isn't yet a rivalry anywhere near Saracens versus Exeter, but Alex Sanderson is salivating that it is now set to heat up…#EXEvSALhttps://t.co/iodndhQlCv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 12, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
I wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
26 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
26 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to commentsJason Jenkins has one cap. When Etzebeth was his age he had over 80 caps. Experience matters. He will never amount to what Etzebeth has because he hasn’t been developed as an international player.
2 Go to commentsSays much about the player picking this gig over the easier and bigger rewards offered to him in Japan. Also says a lot about the state sanctioned tax benefits the Irish Revenue offers pro rugby players, with their ten highest earning years subject to an additional 40% tax relief and paid as a lump sum, in cash, at retirement. Certainly helps Leinster line up the financial ducks in a row to fund marquee signings like this!!! No other union anywhere in world rugby benefits from this kind of lucrative financial sponsorship from their government…
5 Go to comments