Chiefs side to face Bristol Bears
By Mark Stevens
19/5/22
Rob Baxter has called on his Exeter Chiefs side to “stand up and fight” as they look to end their Gallagher Premiership campaign on a high note.
With just two rounds of the regular season remaining, the Chiefs know they must not only win against Bristol Bears (tomorrow) and Harlequins (June 4), but also hope that results elsewhere go their way.
It’s a tall order for sure, but whilst the mathematics say it’s still a possibility, Baxter wants his charges to throw everything at the cause.
“You only have to look at the Premier League, it looked like Liverpool had blown it, then all of a sudden results change and they are back within a point of Manchester City,” he said. “All we can do is play well and put pressure on those sides around us. If we can win on Friday, then at least it will force them to do things and collect points. “If they don’t collect points – and we do – then we give ourselves a chance.
“What I want to see from our guys is an energy and excitement around these last few weeks.”
In what has been a testing campaign for the Chiefs, one in which injuries to key stars have certainly hampered their cause, as well as a handful of last-gasp defeats, Baxter acknowledges lessons will be learnt throughout the playing staff ahead of next season.
“I think the recent break has been good for us,” he added. “It’s let us spend some time thinking, talking and just reflecting on things, which is important. Initially after the Saracens game, we were all bitterly disappointed, but when I sat down and really reviewed the game, we did a lot of good things and there were periods in that game where we really challenged them.
“The review also showed that a few off things happened in the game as well – and there was a period where you look at things and ask ‘How did that happen?’
“A few of those things happened around some of the decisions that got made and that definitely counted against us in that period just before half time and again early in the second half. It did dent our momentum and then we didn’t recover and Saracens took advantage of it.
“That said, I didn’t come out of that game despondent in any way, instead I saw a lot of positive things that I want us to build from.”
Baxter continued: “Since that game, we’ve had that little break; we’ve come back into training and I think the most encouraging thing I’ve seen us do is that the players have grabbed hold of a lot of stuff. They’ve had some of their own meetings and they’ve made some decisions on where they want to move forward.
“I think it’s important we don’t – and I include us as coaches as well in this – just sit here and look backwards, because I think the most important thing in any successful side is your ability to always move forward.
“If you have had successful seasons, which we have done in recent years, the toughest thing is moving forward to the next one and moving forward to the next thing. I don’t want us sitting here thinking ‘we didn’t do this or we didn’t do that’ those things have happened, it’s more about where we go now.
“As I said, we have a strong playing group here and there are some guys there who have really grabbed hold of some that in these last few weeks – that’s why I’m really looking forward to Friday night because I think we’ll see the effect that’s had.”
Like the Chiefs, Bristol have themselves had the last few weeks off and will be looking to end their home campaign with a win against one of their nearest and dearest.
“We know a win helps in terms of trying to get into the play-offs, but there is also a chance we could miss out on playing in the top European competition if we play poorly,” warned Baxter. “We’ve talked about that, so let’s show people that something special is coming next year and let’s show that energy and emotion.”
Team news for the Chiefs sees Baxter make four changes to his starting line-up from that which took on Saracens last time out. In the pack, Harry Williams replaces Marcus Street at tight-head, while Dave Ewers returns in the back-row at the expense of Richard Capstick.
Behind the scrum, Joe Simmonds is recalled at fly-half, meaning Henry Slade reverts back into the centre with Tom Hendrickson dropping to the bench. The only other change sees Josh Hodge start on the wing in place of Tom O’Flaherty.
