Western Morning News (Saturday)
Chiefs aim to pounce on ‘rusty’ Leinster
ROB Baxter insists Exeter Chiefs are ready to pounce if Leinster show any signs of rust in today’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Sandy Park (KO 5.30pm).
The eagerly-awaited tie matches Baxter’s defending champions against a team chasing a record fifth European crown and who are appearing in the knockout phase for the 16th time.
Leinster’s round of 16 game against Toulon was cancelled because of a case of coronavirus at the French giants, while Exeter were able to blow away the cobwebs with a tricky tie against Lyon.
“Leinster will try to look at all the positives of their game being cancelled – the break will be good for them and they’ll be fresh, they’ll have been able to get over any bumps and bruises and niggling injuries from the week before,” director of rugby Baxter said.
“On the flip side, we’re looking at it as a positive for us because if you look at our first 15 minutes against Lyon, we looked a little bit like a team that hadn’t played together.
“We’ve hopefully got over that to give us a chance of having a better performance against Leinster. We’ll feel better for having had a game.”
Exeter initially struggled against Lyon as their internationals were bedded in following the completion of the Six Nations, but ultimately emerged emphatic 47-25 winners.
Baxter has made two changes with props Ben Moon and Tomas Francis displacing Alec Hepburn and Harry Williams from the starting XV. Joe and Sam Simmonds are present despite not completing the game against Lyon.
Leinster have made one change to the side picked against Toulon with Scott Fardy replacing Ryan Baird in the second row.
The Chiefs are one of only two English clubs to have made it through to the quarter-finals, with Sale Sharks facing La Rochelle.