Western Morning News (Saturday)
Baxter plots the path to European success
Chiefs make one change for their huge semi-final clash with Toulouse
ROB Baxter has been plotting Toulouse’s downfall for weeks as he looks to make history with his Exeter Chiefs squad.
Chiefs host the four-time Heineken Champions Cup winners at Sandy Park today in the club’s first ever European semifinal at this level.
And while Baxter was quick to dismiss the game as the biggest in the club’s history, although a strong argument could be made that it is, the mammoth European tie is undoubtedly the most important of the 2019/20 season to date for the Devon-side who are pushing for silverware on two fronts.
As such Baxter and his coaching team were doing their homework on the Top 14 side well before a ball was even kicked in their 38-15 quarter-final win over Northampton on Sunday.
And the first words in the team huddle after the game were not of congratulations but about preparing for a titanic battle against a side studded with superstars like South African World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe and French wonderkid fly-half Romain Ntamack.
The outstanding news for Baxter is his ‘A-team’ of players are fit to take the field this weekend with key men also close to a return to action from injury.
“This is a last four game in Europe, so whoever is one of the four teams is going to be pretty good,” Baxter said.
“For us, though, I think this is the kind of challenge we’ve been waiting for. That’s no disrespect to anybody else, but the players came back in great physical condition from lockdown and ready to go.
“As a group, they’ve thrown a huge amount of energy into game with the anticipation and knowledge that there is something special to play for on the horizon. Therefore, those games were really worth going after, because it’s allowed to be where we need in the Premiership and also in Europe. Now, we have to harness all of that energy and desire in the right way to give us the best chance to put in the best level of performance at the weekend.”
Despite Exeter having never reached this stage of the European competition they are well versed in knockout rugby having been in the Gallagher Premiership grand final for the last four years on the trot, with the league table toppers favourites to lift the trophy in 2019/20 as well.
While three of those four visits to Twickenham have resulted in defeats Baxter is confident his side have grown and developed from the heartache.
He said: “We’ve been very open and assessed all the wins and losses in finals together.
“We’ve got a large group of players now who have been involved in quite a few of those finals and quite a lot of them understand the emotional difference between getting to a final or getting to a big game and making sure the performance justifies you being there.”
Baxter makes one change to the side that won last week with Sam Skinner coming in for Jacques Vermeulen, who scored two tries last week.
Exeter Chiefs: Stuart Hogg, Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Ian Whitten, Tom O’Flaherty, Joe Simmonds (capt), Jack Maunder, Alec Hepburn, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams, Jonny Gray, Jonny Hill, Dave Ewers, Sam Skinner, Sam Simmonds. Replacements: Jack Yeandle, Ben Moon, Tomas Francis, Dave Dennis, Don Armand, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Gareth Steenson, Ollie Devoto.