Baxter has to cope without star names
By Mark Stevens
13/2/19
Exeter Chiefs will be missing a number of frontline stars for Friday’s Gallagher Premiership trip to rivals Gloucester.
England head coach Eddie Jones has today confirmed that he will be keeping six Exeter players in his 25-man training squad, which has gathered at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot to prepare for next week’s crunch Guinness Six Nations Championship clash with Wales in Cardiff.
Forwards Ben Moon, Harry Williams and Luke Cowan-Dickie, together with Ollie Devoto, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade are the players who have been retained by Jones.
Moon, Cowan-Dickie, Nowell and Slade all featured in last Sunday’s victory over France, a result which has put England top of the table with maximum points after two rounds.
Slade has certainly been the pick of the Chiefs stars so far, playing 80 minutes against both Ireland and France, and collecting three tries in the process.
Chiefs’ Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, has been delighted with the form shown by the centre, saying: “I think the nicest thinking watching Henry is his whole body language and demeanour looks confident, he looks happy, he looks sharp and ready to go. I think that is what’s been really nice to see.
“He is starting to look like a really important player for England, which is fantastic. I am just really pleased that all his hard work is coming to fruition because what I don’t think people realise is just how hard Henry works at his game. He is extremely professional in all that he does and what he is getting now is a bit of reward for that consistency and a real run of games.
“Obviously he has to earn that by the quality of how he has played, but he seems to be thriving in that environment and that’s fantastic, not only for England, but for us here at Exeter too.”
With Mako Vunipola sidelined for the remainder of the Six Nations, Chiefs prop Moon could well find himself elevated into the starting line-up for the clash with Wales, whilst Cornishman Nowell will be looking to regain his place on the wing having been moved down to the bench, despite a quality showing against Ireland in Dublin.
Baxter acknowledged it was probably a ‘frustrating call’ for Nowell, but he has backed his man to prove his worth moving forward.
“People like Jack should be frustrated if you are an ambitious player and you want to be playing international rugby,” added Baxter. “I think Jack’s performance against Ireland was very good, but then England have got strength and they are building towards a World Cup.
“For any of the frontline countries, it’s not all about this Six Nations. This is just one of the stepping stones towards the World Cup and for that reason I can understand why England are trying out a few different combinations and different options they have there.
“I still think on performance levels Jack is still holding the number one slot there as one of the two wingers, but it is very interesting for him.He knows he has to keep fighting, working hard, stay fit and play well, and hopefully he will come through the Six Nations having had a decent amount of game time and ready to finish the season strong with us.
“As people will know, Jack at this stage hasn’t had a great deal of rugby this season, so it could be a really fruitful year for him because he looks really sharp at the moment.”
Even without the six England players, Baxter will have a wealth of talent to choose from ahead of the fourth meeting this season between the Chiefs and Gloucester. Currently, the Devonians edge the head-to-head battle 2-1, but know they will need to be at their best to topple the Cherry & Whites on their own patch.
Gloucester’s only two victories in the last five rounds of the Premiership were at home to Worcester and away at Newcastle in December, while Exeter’s only two league defeatsmthis season have come in the last four rounds, away at Harlequins and Northampton.
Referee Craig Maxwell-Keys will take charge of Friday’s contest, which will kick-off at 7:45pm and will be shown live on BT Sport.