Slade 'excited' for what the future holds

By Mark Stevens
8/5/23

Henry Slade says there is a real excitement within the Exeter Chiefs ranks at what can be a new dawn for the Gallagher Premiership club next season.

With the Devonians set to lose a plethora of household names this summer, the experienced England international is one of a number of senior stars who will remain in tow at Sandy Park for the 2023/24 campaign.

Slade – who has been part of a golden generation at the Chiefs for the past ten years – will spearhead a new-look Exeter squad, which will be made up of a new glut of young and highly-rated youngsters.

It’s little wonder, therefore, the Plymouth-born back is relishing the future and what can be achieved under the guidance of Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter.

“We’ve got a lot of senior lads, many of whom have been here a long time, moving on,” said Slade. “At the same time, we’ve got a lot of boys who have been waiting in the wings and some others who have come in, who are really, really impressive. All of them are getting there chance now – and they will get it again next year – so it’s a really exciting time for club.

“Obviously, it’s a bit of a transition period, but we’ve got those young boys who are chomping at the bit to get out there and show what they can do.”

And Chiefs supporters were given an insight into that future during last weekend’s final Gallagher Premiership fixture of the season away to London Irish.

Rather than given one final outing to many of those moving on, Baxter opted to utilise many of those who will be donning the Chiefs jersey next season. Although narrowly defeated 17-14 at the Gtech Community Stadium, both Baxter and Slade saw positives from what was an encouraging display.

“We can take a lot of pride from today,” added Slade. “We set our stall out in training that we weren’t going to worry about the flashy stuff, but more so look at just getting the hard yards done, the work off the ball and just getting the energy and effort levels right.

“If you do that, it gives you such a strong foundation. I think we did that well today. More often than not, things go your way if you work that hard. Obviously, it didn’t happen today, that’s just how it is, but you saw the effort and application the boys applied and if that’s the benchmark for next season, then we can be encouraged and excited as what is to come.”