Baxter questions quick turnaround
By Mark Stevens
25/10/17
At a time when player welfare is the hot topic within the modern-day game, Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, has questioned the five-day turnaround between fixtures for his side.
On Sunday, the Chiefs made it back-to-back victories in this season’s European Champions Cup when they won in Montpellier, but they will return to action again on Friday night when they make the trip to Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership.
Speaking at his weekly media briefing, Baxter said: “It still seems in this day and age, when we have so much talk on player welfare that the two TV companies - one who lines one up for the European games and the other for the Premiership - can’t seem to work these things out that you don’t get these turnarounds.
“You are supposed to avoid them at all costs, purely based on player welfare. The people who are responsible for organising European TV fixtures are well aware we have a Friday night fixture, that’s been in the schedule for quite some time prior to the European schedule, it’s one of those things. It’s obviously a frustration to me, especially as we seem to be the focal point as professional coaches as how we have to look after and maintain the balance of players, but then you get those opportunities taken out of your hands.
“We are very much focusing on re-energising the group. We understand our hands are tied to a degree in terms of how much recovery we can get in, which players we can select and who will be fit after a tough game in Montpellier going into Sale, but we will deal with it as best we can.
“You can see today we have most of the group running around, so the guys who come through the freshest and the fittest will be the guys who play against Sale.”
Asked whether he felt there should be a statutory minimum in terms of recovery time, Baxter added: “There shouldn’t be a statutory minimum, it should just be done on common sense. I think that’s the battle that we are all frustrated with. Common sense says you shouldn’t be dragging a team around on a Sunday to then go and play on a following Friday, either home or away.
“It happened to Wasps a few weeks ago when they played on a Sunday then had to play on a Friday. You would just hope common sense prevails and it doesn’t need to be too cast in stone because there will be times when it is impossible to organise it any other way. However, I do find it hard to believe that Montpellier couldn’t hold that fixture at any other time than Sunday - so I do think it’s something that needs to be looked at in more detail.”