Baxter Names a Strong line-up for Season Opener
As the eyes of the wider rugby world turn their attention to France and the opening weekend of RWC 2023, for Rob Baxter and his team the focus is closer to home, a curtain raiser revealing the first 23 players that will lead the Exeter Chiefs into this next chapter, as a new season begins in earnest.
Eight days on from a pre-season hit out against the noisy neighbours from up the M5, the Premiership Rugby Cup defence commences in front of the Sandy Park faithful with a return leg; Bristol Bears travelling down to take on the Chiefs with both teams looking to test the waters ahead of a long campaign.
It was a strong performance at Aston Gate from Exeter, and with a week to reflect, it is clear that Rob Baxter is excited about the season to come.
“I think the huge positives were that we’ve worked on several things in training and we saw them all, we saw all the foundations of our game there.
We’ve spent a huge amount of time on set-piece, we’ve brought in a new scrum coach with Ross McMillan and he’s spent a lot of time across the weeks with the forwards on various detail elements around the scrum.
I think some of our attack, our flow and our shape looked very good, we scored some tries in a way that we want to moving forward, and that’s quick. Quick off set piece, or quick off an attacking kick, and that’s what we’re trying to do, to bring some tempo into the game and perhaps move away from some of the grinding play in the middle of the field.”
The Premiership Cup has had a revamp, with the addition of Championship clubs for this new season, and with a long history and a storied journey through the leagues, Baxter is pleased to see the competition expanding to include these teams.
“I think for me personally it’s fantastic, these used to be some of the biggest games that I played in and I hope it continues in this format and we stay in these semi-local groups.
I’m really looking forward to the Pirates coming here next week and know their team are as well, we should get a good crowd and these are the kind of fixtures that will re-ignite local rugby.
At the end of the day that’s where we came from and we could end up back there, so of course we want it to be a vibrant competition.”
Before we get to that Pirates fixture it’s all about Bristol Bears, and with so many young players eager to make that starting shirt their own, competition for places is fierce.
“We don’t really know what our best side is, right here and now there is no player that is pencilled in for that Saracens game on October 14th, they’ve all got points to prove.
There are guys who’ve been left out this week who are just as likely to feature in that opening Premiership fixture, as the guys who will be taking the field on Saturday. It’s for them all to take a spot, it’s for them all to keep training well and demand that they’re the person who should be there week by week."
It is clear that the Chiefs Director of Rugby is not about to pull any punches with his opening team sheet.
Baxter will send out a powerful looking 23, with some exciting combinations that will have Chiefs supporters licking their lips.
It was a powerful display, particularly in the first-half, against the Bears in the pre-season friendly, and the pack sees only one change, with Jacques Vermeulen given the starting birth at seven. He joins Ethan Roots and Greg Fisilau in a potent looking Chiefs back-row that oozes physicality.
McMillan has made an immediate impact in the set-piece, with the new scrum coach’s fingerprints all over the dominant showing that Exeter eight doled out last week. Scott Sio & Ehren Painter continue their propping partnership either side of the ever-reliable Jack Yeandle who continues to lead from the front as he enters his eleventh season for the Chiefs.
Behind the scrum, it’s hard to look past the centre pairing.
Many fans and pundits alike will be thinking that Joe Hawkins and Henry Slade should be turning out for their respective nations this weekend, instead they will be linking up in a Chiefs jersey for the first time in what promises to be a thrilling combination.
Sitting in the back field, Josh Hodge, Tommy Wyatt and Ben Hammersley have an average age of just 22, and after a sizzling display at Ashton Gate with Hodge in particular ripping through the Bears defence, Ali Hepher will surely be excited by the prospect of this fearless attacking trio.
There is a welcome return to the bench for Dan Frost who missed out on last week’s friendly, whilst Niall Armstrong comes into the 23 for the injured Will Becconsall who picked up a shoulder niggle against Bristol.
However, no-one is looking too far into the future, least of all Rob Baxter.
“The reality is, it isn’t about the Premiership, it’s about this week and then it’s about next week, that’s how we want this team to be. We want them to be excited about day-to-day training, match by match.
If we get the attitude about us now, that we’re going to take everything that we can out of every game, then it’ll be a lot easier when we do roll into the Premiership to continue that mindset, rather than thinking right now it’s time for us to start playing seriously. I want us to be serious now, I want us to be serious this weekend and I want us to be serious next weekend.”
There is no doubting the serious nature of this team sheet, and it marks an exciting new beginning for the Exeter Chiefs, with it all to play for on the Sandy Park pitch this weekend.
Exeter Chiefs Team:
15. Josh Hodge
14. Ben Hammersley
13. Henry Slade
12. Joe Hawkins
11. Tommy Wyatt
10. Harvey Skinner
9. Tom Cairns
1. Scott Sio
2. Jack Yeandle ©
3. Ehren Painter
4. Matt Postlethwaite
5. Lewis Pearson
6. Ethan Roots
7. Jacques Vermeulen
8. Greg Fisilau
Replacements:
16. Dan Frost
17. Billy Keast
18. Patrick Schickerling
19. Rusi Tuima
20. Ross Vintcent
21. Niall Armstrong
22. Will Haydon-Wood
23. Tom Hendrickson