Baxter tips Sio to have immediate impact
By Mark Stevens
17/8/22
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, believes new signing Scott Sio can have an ‘immediate effect’ on the Gallagher Premiership after confirming his arrival today.
The 30-year-old Australian international has joined the Devon club on a long-term deal and is Baxter’s sixth new signing of the close season.
Sio – who joins the Chiefs after 11 seasons with the Brumbies in Super Rugby – has been capped 71 times by his country and will bring a wealth of big-game experience and talent up front.
“I have been looking around for a while in regards to where I could add to the squad in terms of quality and in depth,” explained Baxter. “Scott is someone we have looked at it in the past – and I’ve kept a close eye on him for some time.
“People will be aware that we’ve had a great deal of success in the past, both on the field and in the changing room, with some of the Australian guys who have come over. I’ve obviously done a fair bit of research on Scott and I’ve chatted a fair bit with Nic White as well – and he told me a lot of good things about him and his character – we then had a good interview with him as well.
“Watching him play, he’s still operating at a very high level and he probably brings that really important element in the modern-day game of being that very quick, explosive, ball-carrying loosehead. Obviously, you need him to be good around the set-piece, but we do feel he can have a real impact both in attack and defence. That’s going to be an important part of us aiming to be a team that gets on the front foot.”
Baxter has certainly bolstered his playing options this summer, drafting in not only Sio, but fellow newcomers Aidon Davis, Jack Dunne, Solomone Kata, Rory O’Loughlin and Ruben Van Heerden ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
He added: “I’m really excited about Scott coming, especially as he’s going to drop in straight from the Rugby Championship in October. Personally, I think he’s going to be one of those guys who is going to be an immediate hit in the Premiership and I’m quite excited about the pack of forwards we are growing here at the club.
“The Brumbies, to be fair, are probably known as being a forward orientated team in Super Rugby which is very important for us. Scott has obviously been there quite some time, but he’s also got great experience at Test level. He’s also not that old, he’s been given a clean bill of health from the medical people, so he’s good to go, which is fantastic.”
Baxter also used the signing of Sio to remind some of his young forwards that breaking into the first-team ranks this season will be no easy task.
“We’ve got a couple of young guys here at the club that I have been monitoring to see if they come through,” said Baxter. “I don’t mind saying, right now I’m not sure if any of our young looseheads have really grabbed the position by the scruff of the neck yet, which is why I’ve been looking at the market.
“As far as I am concerned, we now have a good group of senior looseheads, so it’s going to be a bit more of a battle for some of these younger lads to knock them off their perches, especially as they will need to work extremely hard to do that.”