England and Exeter Chiefs come to ‘as good an arrangement as possible’ over Henry Slade
Henry Slade in action for Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has confirmed Henry Slade will be available for his side’s clash against Harlequins, stating he and Steve Borthwick have come to ‘as good an arrangement as possible’.
The centre underwent shoulder surgery following England’s tour to Japan and New Zealand and has missed all five of Exeter’s Premiership games this season.
‘They want to see him in a game’
Despite not playing a match of any kind since July, Slade was named in Steve Borthwick‘s 36-man squad for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series, and looks in-line to start in England‘s clash with the All Blacks next weekend.
In an effort to get minutes into him before the Test, Slade has been sent back to Exeter for their game against Harlequins this weekend, and Baxter detailed how this suits both parties.
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“To be fair to England, they’ve been very good about it,” he told members of the media. “Henry wants some game time, they want to see him in a game and so do we.
“More than anything else, the key to putting it all together is the player wants to play and get out there.
He added: “Between ourselves and England we’ve come to as good an arrangement as possible, he’s spent some time with England and then he’ll have some training time with us.”
Baxter also revealed how he and the England head coach had been in regular contact over the fitness of Slade, and that plans for his return to Exeter began taking shape before their defeat to Newcastle.
“Steve and I have had a couple of phone calls when we knew Sladey would be fit for the Autumn internationals period,” Baxter said. He wasn’t declared fit until last Friday when we played Newcastle. We’d had a couple of conversations of what it might look like, but both Steve and I knew Sladey wanted to play.”
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“From England’s perspective, they’ll feel more comfortable if he has some game time, and we’re keen to help him get the prep he needs and Steve and I just spoke about making it work for both of us.”
“No single player is the cure to everything”
Exeter have been in rotten form in the early stages of the season, losing all five of their Premiership fixtures to date; but the return of Slade could be the injection of quality they need to secure their first win of the season.
“No single player is the cure to everything, and you don’t put one player in and win everything,” Baxter said. “But without a doubt when you see how we lost some of the games this season, it wouldn’t have taken much more calmness and authority on the field they could have turned our way. That puts a different perspective on the season.”
“It’s good news for us,” he continued. “He’s a very important player for us and one we’ve missed this season in a lot of ways. Outside of that, we’re able to select as strong a group as we have for a while.”
Whilst Slade will return to Premiership action this weekend, Exeter will be without fellow England ace Immanuel Feyi-Waboso for the game at Sandy Park, with the winger still with England ahead of the November Tests.
