Chiefs side to face Sale Sharks
By Mark Stevens
6/12/19
Rob Baxter has challenged his Exeter Chiefs side to maintain their impressive run of form when they return to Heineken Champions Cup action away to Sale Sharks on Sunday (3:15pm).
Having kicked-off the month of November with a last-gasp loss to local rivals Bristol Bears in the Gallagher Premiership, the response from the Chiefs have certainly been emphatic.
Bonus point victories over La Rochelle and Glasgow Warriors had given the Devonians a dream start to their latest European campaign - and it was followed up last weekend with another five-point haul as Wasps were swotted aside 38-3 at Sandy Park.
Now, the Chiefs will head to Salford this weekend looking not only to build on those triumphs, but at the same time take a significant bite out of the Sharks, who they will welcome back to the Westcountry a week on Sunday in the return leg.
“So far we’ve got everything we wanted out of the last few weeks,” said Baxter. “Three five-point wins, it doesn’t really get any better than that! Personally, I can’t credit the players enough for the hard work they’ve put in, as well as the way they have stuck to task in each of those games.
“There were times over in La Rochelle when it was tough and it was just the same against Glasgow, especially when you saw the score at half-time. We conceded an early try in that game, but we dug deep, we were able to not only come through those tough periods, but we were also able to inflict our own game onto them.
“The same thing kind of happened against Wasps as well, where for the second quarter at least, they pinned us in our own half and we had to fight to maintain our lead. We did that fantastically well, after which we were then able to impose ourselves strongly on them in the second half and get the result we wanted.”
Baxter added: “As I said, what really impressed me in all of those games was just how hard the boys were willing to work, especially under some strong pressure at times, and to stay on task. Looking at some of the figures they produced throughout those games, it underlines what I am trying to say.
“I know why we work hard to be a good Exeter Chiefs team, that’s when we tend to get good results and three five-point wins talk for themselves.”
The challenge for Baxter and his squad, however, is to make that statistic continue to grow, starting at the AJ Bell Stadium against a Sharks side who lost their opening Champions Cup game at Glasgow, but hit back the following week with success at home to La Rochelle.
Over the years the Sharks and the Chiefs have engaged in some ferocious battles, predominantly in the Premiership, and the Exeter chief knows his players will need to be at their very best if they are to maintain their unblemished record in this season’s competition.
“It’s often a place that tends to bring the best out of us,” said Baxter. “Yes, we’ve had some tough games up there, ones that we’ve won and others that we’ve lost, but actually when I think of those games that we’ve won, a lot of our success has come from the attitude and the desire - particularly in defence - that we’ve been able to show.
“Sale, we know, are a good, attacking side and they have an ability to come at you in a variety of different ways. They can score tries which a lot of other teams cannot do, so it’s going to be down to us to make sure we have our defensive systems in place from the off and that we work incredibly hard to foil them at every opportunity.
“It’ll be a great challenge, as it always is when you go to Sale, but we’ve been there before, we’ve won there before, and with the excitement of it being a Heineken Cup game, I’d like to see us go there and put in one of those big Exeter Chiefs-type performances.”
Having taken last weekend as a prime time to rest a number of his key players following their exertions in the Premiership and at the recent Rugby World Cup, it’s little surprise that all of them return to the fold on Sunday.
In the pack, Alec Hepburn, Jonny Hill, Jacques Vermeulen and Sam Simmonds all return, whilst behind a hamstring injury to Tom O’Flaherty means the back division is reshuffled somewhat with Ian Whitten moving to the flank and Henry Slade restored to centre.
England international Slade is back in the starting mix at centre, alongside young playmaker Joe Simmonds and summer signing Stuart Hogg, in what is a powerful attacking arsenal for the visitors.
As for O’Flaherty, Baxter confirmed the live-wire winger, who this week won the Premiership’s Try of the Week for his second half effort against Wasps, is still being assessed over the severity of his injury. At this stage, Baxter admits it could be a ‘number of weeks’ - but he is waiting for further medical reports before deciding the next course of action for the Londoner.
On the plus side, fellow flyer Olly Woodburn is fit-again and he will take his place in a Chiefs match-day squad for the first time since pulling up injured against Harlequins in the Premiership back in mid-October.
CHIEFS SIDE TO PLAY SALE SHARKS
15 Stuart Hogg
14 Jack Nowell
13 Henry Slade
12 Sam Hill
11 Ian Whitten
10 Joe Simmonds
9 Nic White
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
3 Harry Williams
4 Dave Dennis (capt)
5 Jonny Hill
6 Dave Ewers
7 Jacques Vermeulen
8 Sam Simmonds
16 Elvis Taione
17 Ben Moon
18 Marcus Street
19 Jannes Kirsten
20 Don Armand
21 Jack Maunder
22 Gareth Steenson
23 Olly Woodburn