Baxter going full tilt into Bristol

By Mark Stevens
19/4/23

Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter says he has no intention of resting key personnel ahead of next week’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final with La Rochelle.

Instead, he expects to field as strong a squad as possible for his side’s final home game of the season this Saturday against Westcountry rivals Bristol Bears (3pm).

In what is sure to be an emotional day at Sandy Park, the Chiefs faithful will have their chance to not only salute another campaign of top-flight rugby in Devon but, at the same time, pay homage to a number of the club’s senior stars who are either leaving or retiring at the end of the season.

“We are just approaching Saturday by going flat out,” said Baxter at his pre-game media briefing. “It is our last home game and it’s an important game for a lot of players. I think the players would have been very upset if we hadn’t gone flat out to give everyone the opportunity to be involved in a big game at home.

“That being said, I think it is also good preparation for us ahead of going and playing La Rochelle. I think we needed a good tough game under our belts, we have got the extra day turnaround going into the Sunday game.

“I think this is what we need. We need a good run out against a team who are going to challenge us. We need to be getting on with things and I want the lads to enjoy every moment of the run into the end of the season and to do that they need to be on the field.

“Bristol won’t be coming here to join in any celebrations that we may have, they’ll be coming here to win a game of Premiership rugby. All week I’ve been saying to our lads that we need to finish strongly and that we can’t allow emotions to rule things, because that won’t be any good to any of us.”

After last week’s 62-19 loss at Leicester Tigers, the Chiefs will be hoping a return to home comforts - where they have lost just once this season - will help give them the perfect foundation to lead into their European semi-final.

Ahead of kick-off, Baxter has been boosted with the news that he is able to potentially select from a number of stars who were unavailable for last weekend’s trip to Welford Road.

Powerhouse forwards Jannes Kirsten and Dave Ewers have both recovered from issues that kept them out of the Tigers clash, while Jack Nowell has also ‘shaken off’ a knee injury that kept him out of the match-day squad.

The Cornishman, however, will have to see if he is available following a disciplinary hearing tonight after he was cited for criticising referee Karl Dickson for his decision to show team-mate Olly Woodburn a second yellow card, and so red, after 42 minutes on Sunday.

Confirmation came through today that Woodburn will not receive any further ban following his dismissal and so is also available to play this weekend.

Baxter added: ”We are looking okay. Jack Nowell is starting to shake off the knee, which is really good and positive because he has obviously been a big influence. He has got his hearing tonight - we will have to see how that pans out - but he his up and running around and is available.

“Jannes is up and about training, as is Dave Ewers. Dave had some knee swelling which limited his training time last week, Jannes has had an ongoing shoulder joint issue for some time which flared up again after the Stormers game, so we needed to give him some time off. But they are both back fully training this week and fully available to us which is clearly a boost.

“We did pick up a couple of injuries from Tigers, both in the centres, Sol Kata and then his replacement Rory O'Loughlin both picked up fairly significant injuries in the game which limits us a little bit, but at the same time we have got Sladey available to us. As we are gaining some we are losing some but on the whole, we are okay.”

Slade missed the trip to Leicester as Baxter opted to use the weekend to give him his mandatory rest having been a key part of England’s Six Nations campaign.