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'We have got to have hopes of getting quite a few in': The eve-of-selection mood at Exeter
Rob Baxter has described the eve-of-selection mood at Exeter, the 2019/20 double winners, who are hoping to enjoy a far greater representation on the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa than the single pick they managed in 2017.
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England winger Jack Nowell was the sole Chiefs player chosen to tour New Zealand in 2017, but there is an optimistic mood prevailing at Sandy Park that the figure will be higher when Gatland announces on Thursday the identity of the 36 players he will be bringing to the home of the Springboks.
Aside from potentially having the recently fit-again Nowell in the mix, Exeter have multiple other candidates in their ranks. They include Scotland skipper Stuart Hogg, a 2017 Lions pick when he was at Glasgow before his switch to the Premiership.
Other Exeter players capped during the recent Guinness Six Nations include England’s Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams, Jonny Hill and Henry Slade, Wales’ Tomas Francis and Scotland’s Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner. The Simmonds brothers have also been in the Lions conversation despite back-rower Sam – last capped in 2018 – and uncapped out-half Joe being overlooked by England boss Eddie Jones.
It has all generated a frisson of excitement at the club ahead of Thursday’s Lions squad announcement by Gatland and the only disappointment from Baxter’s perspective is that it is a day off for the player so they won’t be together when the 36 names are called out from London over the TV.
"We were training in the gym and someone came up and said, 'Unlucky mate'"
– @heagneyl hears how James Haskell coped with his Lions rejection four years ago before receiving a Gatland bolt from the blue #Lions ? https://t.co/wm2Qej6GdI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 5, 2021
“Difficult,” said Baxter when asked what the Lions mood was at the Exeter. “Because guys don’t really want to talk about it. The guys who are genuinely in the reckoning don’t really want to talk about it too much because for obvious reasons they don’t want to do anything unlucky which I can understand.
“And the guys who are not quite in there don’t want to say too much because they don’t want to feel bad for other people. It’s a difficult scenario. It’s a shame it’s a Thursday which is our day off because it is always nice to see the guys quickly but I kind of have the feeling that quite a few of the guys are pleased they are going to find out on their own and deal with the circumstances on their own for a little bit first before they come in on Friday.
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“We have got to have hopes of getting quite a few in,” he continued when asked will Exeter come out of the Lions selection better than they did in 2017. “Now that doesn’t mean that will necessarily happen but if you think based on the last two or three years of form, where we have been as a club, the international form some of our players have been in as well, you have got to say there is a group there who are certainly in the reckoning.
“It doesn’t take a genius to work out who they are and the outside of our international players we have got guys who have had really good seasons both in Europe and the Premiership the last couple of years. Guys are very aware there is a lot of chat around the Simmonds boys and guys like that who haven’t been picking up internationals at the moment. We have got a collection of players who have played well, both internationally and domestically, so we should be hopeful to get a number in there.”
Asked about the possible significance of the selection for either of the Simmonds brothers given their repeated omission by England, the Exeter boss added: “I don’t know if it is any more significant because it [the Lions] gets selected in a different way. That is the reality of the scenario. It is a different selection aiming to achieve something different.
“It’s a fantastic achievement if they can do it but I am not one of these people that wants to make a significant issue why one thing happens and the other doesn’t because there are numerous reasons why that can happen.
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“That is why it has just got to be down to players to keep training hard, playing hard, playing well in front of coaches when it really matters in important times which those guys have done, particularly around the Lions selection situation so we are just sitting here crossing our fingers and hoping the best for them all.”
This will be special?? ? https://t.co/pofXFObBej
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 4, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments