Chiefs keen to avoid an early Euro departure
EXETER’S misfiring Heineken Champions Cup campaign will fizzle out tonight if they fail to beat Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Despite losing just once in the Gallagher Premiership this season, Exeter have failed to win from their three Champions Cup starts.
Last Saturday’s home defeat against Gloucester left them adrift at the Pool Two basement.
And even bonus point victories over Gloucester, Castres and Munster – two of those games are away from home – between now and mid-January might not be enough to progress.
The likelihood is another pool stage exit for Exeter, although they are not giving up the ghost.
“As I’ve said before, the Heineken Champions Cup has lots of challenges,” Chiefs rugby director Rob Baxter said.
“If you want to win it, you have to try and learn something from every game you play in.
“We not only have to keep the competition alive, but we have to learn from the games and commit ourselves for the full 80 minutes.
“What we actually have to do is use the disappointment of last weekend to make us better as a team, because there are still three rounds left and 15 points to get.
“We got dented a couple of times last week, and that knocked us out of our stride.
“Some of that is down to us not performing at the level of intensity we need to be at, and some of that is down to the good work Gloucester put in when they had possession.”
Baxter, though, will be without a number of players against Gloucester, with England centre Henry Slade and former Wales wing Alex Cuthbert among new additions to Exeter’s injury list.
Fly-half Joe Simmonds starts at full-back, while Jack Maunder wears the number nine shirt, props Alec Hepburn and Tomas Francis return, and there are back-row opportunities for Sean Lonsdale and Tom Lawday.
South Africa international lock Franco Mostert makes his first start for a Gloucester team that features returns for Jason Woodward, Charlie Sharples, Billy Twelvetrees and Ed Slater.
Gloucester are second in the group, three points behind Munster, and head coach Johan Ackermann said: “It will obviously be good for our campaign to back up last week with a win and give ourselves a possibility of progressing in the competition.
“But, having analysed the game, we know that it’s not going to be easy, there is still much for us to improve on and a lot of hard work we need to do.
“We also know that we will be up against a side who are very motivated to bounce back.” WALES’ 2018 calendar year is in the books and it’s full steam ahead towards a huge 2019.
There’s a Six Nations – for which Wales will be quietly fancied – a busy summer of preparation and of course the World Cup in Japan to come next September.
Oh, and it’s Warren Gatland’s final year in charge of the national squad. Fairly significant, then.
Here are all the key dates and how the year will pan out...
SIX NATIONS Squad meet - January 21
Warren Gatland is likely to make his squad public after the first fifth round of European matches, which means it’s due to come the week commencing January 14.
Then the players will arrive in camp to begin their preparations for the Euro showpiece event.
During the recent autumn block, players did a lot of conditioning work as Gatland took the opportunity to test the players physically.
But points are on offer in the Six Nations and winning is everything in competition rugby, so the training may be slightly different.
With the way Wales have been building in the last 12 months, they’re going to be talked about as quiet favourites for the competition with Ireland clearly the bookies’ pick.
It would appear favourable to have England and Ireland in Cardiff next year but Wales last Grand Slam, in 2012, actually saw Gatland’s men go to London and Dublin to claim victories.
Fixtures
France (A) - Feb 1, 8:00pm GMT; Italy (A) - Feb 9, 4:45pm; England (H) - Feb 23, 4:45pm; Scotland (A) - Mar 9, 2:15pm; Ireland (H) - Mar 16, 2:45pm.
Nice camp
Instead of returning to their Vale Resort training base just outside Cardiff after the opener again France, Wales will travel to Nice and spend time preparing for the Italy game there.
It’s a good chance for Gatland to have his players together, away from home, in their own bubble. It will be seen as good preparation for pre-World Cup camps and the tournament itself.
WORLD CUP PREPARATION
Squad announcement TBC - End of season
Wales are yet to come down on an exact date for the naming of their wider World Cup training group but it will come in the final few weeks of the season.
Regardless of when their season finishes, players will then be given four weeks off before they are required to join up with the squad.
For example, if the Dragons don’t make the play-offs their selected players will have to arrive around Monday, May 27.
But if the Scarlets reach the PRO14 final, their selected players won’t have to link up with the squad until Monday, June 24.
So there’s every chance players could be arriving in dribs and drabs but it shouldn’t be too disruptive and ensures all players get ample break before a hectic summer and autumn.
Switzerland training camp - July
Wales will be returning to Fiesch in the Swiss Alps, where they spent time before the 2015 Rugby World Cup Again, it’s a chance for the group to spend time away together and it serves a wider purpose.
The players will be living 2,250 metres above sea level but training at an altitude of 1,000 metres.
The idea is that the players’ bodies become more accustomed to recovering when there is less oxygen available, making their bodies more efficient at using it when it is available.
It will also be very hot at the time of the year in Fiesch, so there is the heat to contend with too.
Back in 2015, three sessions a day were not unheard of and it was a gruelling fortnight for the players.
Games against England - August
After what is going to be a tough time in Switzerland, Wales will return home for back-to-back fixtures against Eddie Jones’ England.
They will travel to London on August 11, with the return leg in Cardiff on August 17.
Results are always important in sport but they will carry less weight here with both Jones and Gatland likely to name experimental sides as they test out combinations.