Chiefs side to face Munster

Those success stories have meant Baxter’s side will take to the field knowing that a five-point return will see them advance at the expense of their hosts, whilst a regulation victory could also see them prosper, providing they deny Munster any kind of bonus point score.

It’s little wonder there is great excitement within the Chiefs camp ahead of what is arguably their biggest European assignment to date.

“Undoubtedly, if we were to win and get through to the quarter-finals, it would probably rank as our best moment in the competition so far,” said Baxter. “That’s not to say we haven’t won some big games in the past, both home and away, or that we have qualified for the quarter-finals before.

“I think the final round when we qualified for the quarter-finals back in 2016, whilst it was a big, important game against the Ospreys, who themselves had a lot to play for that day, the reality was it was unlikely we go through and that we needed a combination of things to go our way.

“As it turned out, we performance fantastically well on the day. We fully deserved the win and the points we got, but that on it’s own wouldn’t have been enough to see us through. We didn’t go into that game with everything in our hands. That said, we do go into this weekend’s game with things in our hands. We know we have to force that four point separation of either a 4-0 or 5-1 victory. We’re very much aware of that and how tough that makes it for us. However, there is still something tangible there for us to go out and fight for.”

Buoyed by last weekend’s 34-12 victory over reigning French champions Castres at Sandy Park, Baxter will be calling for literally more of the same from his virtually unchanged squad.

‘We started well, we dominated territory and possession, but then we did some things that just led to some simple scores for Glasgow which they went out and capitalised on. Then, we had a yellow card and all of a sudden we were chasing the game. That’s why it’s important you recall those feelings and memories and you make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Baxter admitted the Glasgow fixture has been mentioned in passing this week, but so has the challenge of downing Munster on their own patch. Just four sides in 19 seasons have knocked off the Irishmen in home battle, but the Chiefs are not afraid of upsetting the apple cart and taking on the role of party-poopers for the weekend.

“The guys are fully aware that Munster will provide a huge challenge,” warned Baxter. “At the same time, we’ve performed very well in our last two European fixtures and we know what we’ve focused on in our weekly prep and what has worked to enable us to play well in those games. Now, we just have to make sure we do the same things again over in Ireland.

“As we see it, this weekend’s game is effectively a last 16 knock-out game - and that’s not a bad position to be in when it comes to Europe. If you are amongst the top 16 sides in Europe, that’s a pretty good place to be.Yes, there have been frustrations with earlier parts of the competition, but now we’ve given ourselves a genuine shot of progressing in the competition.

“Listen, even if we had beaten Munster in the home game earlier in the season, there would still be only a one of two-point turnaround from where we are now. We would still have had to go to Munster this weekend and win a game of rugby.If you look at the table, wasn’t it always shaping up that this would be the pivotal game at the end?

“It certainly looked like that to me from the start of the season. I felt if we did OK, Munster did OK, then this would be the key game and that’s what has happened.”

Team news for the Chiefs is that that make just one change to their starting XV.  England prop Harry Williams starts at tight-head after Tomas Francis was forced to withdrew through illness, while Aussie international Greg Holmes is added to the bench.