England call-ups excite us all - Rob

Rob Baxter thinks it is exciting for the whole Exeter Chiefs squad to have Henry Slade, Dave Ewers and Thomas Waldrom called up to join Jack Nowell in England’s training squad.

The trio were among nine players added to Stuart Lancaster’s squad on Sunday evening to cover for injuries ahead of their four Tests in November.

While Slade, Ewers and Waldrom may not get to feature when the matches start against New Zealand on November 8, Baxter is pleased they are on the England head coach’s radar.

Winger Nowell was named in a 33-man squad for the autumn internationals last week, having started all of England’s matches in the Six Nations last season.

Chiefs head coach Baxter said: “I was a little disappointed that we only had Jack named in that senior group to start with, but the flip is that there are still opportunities for our players to keep driving themselves up there.

“The fact we have so many guys who are so close to being involved and on the fringe of things is great.

“Tom Waldrom  (pictured) being back in the mix is fantastic for him and for us, Dave Ewers being up there now training and being so close to breaking into that first group is fantastic, and Sladey being involved with Nowellsy is just really exciting for us as a group.

“The more successful we want to be, the better we have to be at dealing with those guys being away.”

Lancaster is due to announce which players will be preparing for the opening Test of the season against the All Blacks in Sunday evening.

After that game they face South Africa on November 15, Samoa on November 22 and Australia on November 29.

And with the World Cup now less than a year away, Baxter is hoping his players will have the extra motivation they need to keep the Chiefs at the top end of the Aviva Premiership.

The Sandy Park boss, whose side are currently third in the table, thinks last season’s finishing position of eighth didn’t help his players’ chances of winning international call-ups.

He said: “Last year us dropping away to eighth didn’t help in keeping the boys right up there in front of the England management’s eyes. Being in third now is better and what we’ve got to do is fight to stay at the right end of the league.

“There’s no doubt that being at the right end of the league has a huge influence on the amount of English-qualified players you get within those top squads.

“As a club we’ve got a lot of young English-qualified players and them driving the club forward and on to more success in whatever competition we’re playing in is what’s very important for them to get recognition as a group.

“That’s something I find really exciting. We could have a group of young players who get together and say their own destiny is in their own hands as individuals and as a club and they’ve got to be the people who drive it forward and get success on the pitch.”