EX FACTOR

Exeter coach Baxter insists his Chiefs have earned the right to a ‘home’ final against Racing 92

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EXETER boss Rob Baxter insists his rags-to-riches heroes have earned the right to ‘home’ advantage in next month’s Champions Cup final. Organisers sparked controversy by ruling Racing 92 should travel from Paris to Bristol’s Ashton Gate for the October 17 showpiece - while the Chiefs have a short ride up the M5. “Final at home? Very fair,” one French fan tweeted. “History of favouring the English,” added another.

The final had been assigned to Marseille before the Covid pandemic and associated restrictions forced a rethink. But Baxter (below) says given the decision to abandon the ‘designated stadium’ template, it is only right the game is played in England. “Going up the road for the final is the reward for working hard in the pool,” he said. “That’s how it works. You go after it in the pool to come out of it as one of the top seeds. “We’ve ended up being g the top seed in the competition so the game should be in this s country. We’ve earned that benefit. If Racing were the higher seed it would be in France.”

Of the four previous us finals staged across the Channel three brought wins for English sides over French opposition. So home advantage guarantees nothing - particularly as this time the stadium will be empty.

But the way Exeter came from behind to beat Toulouse without fan support suggests they are sufficiently self-driven to give Finn Russell’s allstars a run for their money.

“We’ve never been in this position before and it’s a massive opportunity for not just the players but the club and Exeter as a city as well,” said skipper Joe Simmonds, who scored the last of Chiefs’ four tries at Sandy Park.

Exeter, still a junior team when Toulouse won the last of their four European Cups, are three wins from a Premiership and European double. Simmonds, whose brother Sam was also on the scoresheet, added: “We showed with the performance out there that everyone’s hungry.”

EXETER - Tries: Williams 2, S Simmonds, J Simmonds (pictured, top). Cons: J Simmonds 4. TOULOUSE - Tries: Placine, Lebel. Con: Ramos. Pens: Ramos 2.