1
Double champions Exeter issue warning to trophy rivals
Exeter boss Rob Baxter doesn’t believe a successful defence of their Heineken Champions Cup title would be demeaned by this season revamped format which resulted in the Chiefs only playing a single pool match over the winter.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rather than have the traditional five pools of four teams in a 20-strong tournament, organisers EPCR opted for a one-off 24-team competition where teams were split into two twelve-team conferences and would each play four pool matches.
However, that revamp was ultimately scuppered, Exeter beating Glasgow in their opening game before their three other matches fell victim to the pandemic and restrictions on winter travel. It resulted in EPCR coming up with a knockout round of 16 to recommence the tournament this weekend and Exeter boss Baxter can’t wait.
Lyon are due at Sandy Park this Saturday and if Exeter progress, they will then host either Leinster or Toulouse at the same ground the following week in the quarter-finals. “If you ask any team that goes on and wins it I don’t think any of them will say it will detract from the achievement,” said Baxter.
“The reality is if you look at what we have got to do now to get anywhere winning it, we have got to beat Lyon this week and then we have got to beat the winners of a game between two previous winners in Toulon and Leinster. So even for us to get to the semi-final stages, to have to beat Lyon and then Leinster or Toulon before you get to the semi-final is still a pretty tough ask.
Andy Goode finds room for just 1 England player in his Lions XV while his old @TheRugbyPod mucker Jim Hamilton voices jolting opinions regarding Owen Farrell and Alun Wyn Jones #LionsRugby
https://t.co/1yAfKLU5SI— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2021
“Yes, it’s different. Whether to get to the final and win it is any more or less of a challenge is hard to say. The pools are always tough. They always become a challenge and they always become particularly important to collect points on the way through.
“We failed to get out of the pool on several occasions. We realised how much getting through last year as second seeds helped us so much later in the competition, so it does make it different. Whether it detracts from the achievement of winning it, it’s probably a different argument. It’s just a different format this year.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Baxter declared that his Exeter are primed to impress, claiming that six wins in nine matches for second place in the Premiership and the energy that Test players such as Stuart Hogg are bringing to the environment post-Six Nations has the Chiefs right where they want to be.
“Definitely for two reasons. One, we have got everyone back in camp for the first time in about ten weeks so everyone is training together, everyone is quite vibrant, the sun is shining, the pitch has firmed up, there is a lot of reasons for us to get excited about this weekend and it does feel like we have got a bit of something about us, something to look forward.
“At the same time a lot of the guys who have been here, if you look at where we are over the last ten weeks, the comings and goings, the stuff around Covid etc and the challenges that have been there, we have managed it extremely well.
“We are where we want to be at this stage in the season. We’re second in the Premiership which means a home semi-final is in our hands, and we are in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup and that is what you want to be doing… It’s not a bad place to be at this stage of the season.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Asked about the enthusiasm of his returning internationals, Baxter added: “It’s like anything, there is a little element of mental fatigue to a degree. It was easier for Tom (Francis of Wales), his competition finished two weeks ago so he had a chance to re-energise last week.
“But Stuart has come back from a fantastic experience Friday with Scotland going over to France and winning for the first time in years, beating England this year. He has had a really fantastic Six Nations as the Scotland captain and he is bouncing around, a bit of banter flying about as you would expect and that is what it should be like.
“It’s an exciting time to be playing rugby now. The season is only looking like it is coming around the corner. We have got a big game this weekend and the season is starting to wind up. The weather is coming good and there is also a positive feeling around how the country is going a little bit as well.
“Things do look positive in the country. We are going by day by day closer to the potential of crowds coming back in albeit limited and it’s in everyone’s thought process that we hope to be back to near full crowds by next season. All of those things are a huge incentive for players to be driving forward and looking to get back to those kinds of emotive occasions that they have been used to being in before.”
Baxter declared that Hogg was in line for Exeter selection. “He’s fine, he has trained fully this week. He’s flying around, he looks in great shape,” he said before addressing the overall injury outlook. “An improving picture. Henry (Slade) looks pretty good, he is in training.
“Ian Whitten looks pretty good, he’s in training. Ollie (Devoto) has got over the little issue he had last week that made him unavailable for Gloucester. Tom Hendrickson is a little bit behind those guys but we have certainly got more options than we have had last week. Jonny Gray has been in full-time training as well.”
"First point of contact I thought was his elbow just around the shoulder"
– @TheRugbyPod duo Andy Goode and Jim Hamilton have their say on the sending off that nearly wrecked the thrilling Scotland ambush of France #FRAvSCO #SixNations
https://t.co/Gaccgppcio— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 30, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept 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.
61 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.
8 Go to comments