Western Morning News (Saturday)
Finances behind Chiefs’ decision to let two leave
EXETER Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has reiterated that largely due to financial cutbacks at the club and a vision of letting young homegrown players flourish, he will not be recruiting many new players into his squad ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Baxter’s comments come in a week that Chiefs parted company with 77-cap Scotland lock Jonny Gray and then announced the departure of loosehead prop Alec Hepburn, who has won international caps for both England and Scotland.
Hepburn will join United Rugby Championship side the Scarlets having made 179 appearances at the club over 10 seasons, but reportedly was not offered a new deal at Sandy Park.
Discussing his recruitment strategy, with England centre Henry Slade’s new deal set to be announced imminently, Baxter said: “We are not going to add too much, to be honest. We have a couple of positions where we are going to let players go and we are going to run with a lighter squad.
“Those are some decisions we have made, based on financials as much as anything else, but also we want to buy time for these young guys we have got here. We need to play them if we want to get the best out of them.
|”We are not trying to bring in a load of journeymen, we are going to let them play. We feel like we have got a good academy group over the next, two, three or four years so we don’t want to block their pathways.
“We are going to recruit some experience in positions we know would improve us, but on the whole, there are not going to be huge changes in the squad.
“We have done most of our retention now. Most of the guys we want to stay are staying and we will really only add where we feel we can’t fill in from out our youth system or the university system, so our recruitment is going to be limited.
“We have got some of that recruitment done and not formally announced and we have got one or two more we need to get done before next season.”
Discussing Hepburn, who was a key figure in helping Chiefs win the Champions Cup and two Premiership titles, Baxter added: “Alec is moving on now to another stage of his career. He’s already started that new phase with being capped for Scotland and now moving on to Scarlets.
“I think it’s a good signing for them, as he brings with him a wealth of experience in the Premiership and the Champions Cup as well as internationally.
“He’s been a key part of some of the best years we’ve had at the club, including multiple top two finishes in the Premiership, a couple of Premiership titles as well as Premiership Cup and obviously the double year was a real highlight.
“He came into the squad as a relatively young guy who had taken a slightly different pathway in rugby and he really bought into what the group were trying to achieve and the process of getting better week-byweek, month-by-month, year-byyear.
“And that all led to having some huge games for us and being involved in an incredibly successful group. So, we wish him all the best in the future - we hope things go well for him in Wales and that things keep going well internationally for Scotland as well.”
With such fond memories created in a Chiefs shirt, Hepburn says it has been a bittersweet decision to leave but his next adventure holds promise. He said: “My way of dealing with the prospect of leaving is by looking forward – the front windscreen is bigger than the rearview mirror. And because, if I do look back, it’ll probably make me a bit emotional.
“Being a Chief has been amazing. I can’t believe I was here at 21 and I’m getting ready to leave at 31. It’s all gone very quickly.
“Running out at Sandy Park is very special, very unique. A lot of teams around the country don’t have the same support that we do. Exeter’s just a brilliant community where you feel that the team is at the forefront of what is good.
“It’s hard to summarise but I’ve always thought being a Chief meant playing with a lot of heart, a lot of passion, and to play for each other. I’d like to thank Exeter Chiefs and all the supporters – it’s been an amazing ride. To say it’s been a huge part of my life is an understatement, so thank you.”