Exeter Chiefs: Rob Baxter addresses Springbok’s omission while Test star ‘getting close’ to PREM return
Joseph Dweba (left) is yet to play for Exeter this season, while Ross Vintcent (right) has been out through injury
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter insists Springboks hooker Joseph Dweba is not far away from a return, after missing the opening two competitive fixtures of the season.
The 30-year-old forward, who boasts seven Test caps for his country, has yet to feature in either of Exeter’s first two games of the domestic season, missing out on both their PREM Rugby Cup victory over Bristol Bears and their defeat to Gloucester in last weekend’s PREM opener.
He was virtually ever-present in the Devonians squad last year, his first in the English South West, with 26 appearances in all competitions. In that time, he also scored five tries.
Joseph Dweba omission addressed
Despite playing a key role in the Chiefs’ run to the PREM final last year, Dweba has been overlooked in favour of club stalwart Jack Yeandle and young upstar Louie Gulley, who marked his PREM debut with a try last weekend; however, Baxter insists he is not far away from making his return.
“Joseph’s fine and in full training, but we just went on form for the first selection,” said the director of rugby. “He’s training well, but like everyone else he’s just got to keep his head down and train well.
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“His opportunities will come shortly. He’s not far away; he’s working hard and showing a good attitude in training.
“Don’t forget we’ve got Max Norey as well, who was featuring a lot last season and is back fully fit. We’ve got really good competition around that hooker slot at the moment.”
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Elsewhere, Exeter look set for some welcome returns to their match-day squad ahead of their trip to West Country rivals Bath, following a bout of illness in camp and several injuries.
“It looks a bit better,” Baxter said of his squad. “It’s interesting sitting in the meetings and listening to all the coughing and spluttering, but hopefully they’re in the end stages and getting through things. We’ve got more of a full squad in training.
“We still had a little bit at the start of the week where guys were having to pull out of training, but touch wood, it looks like we’re through the majority of it now. Hopefully, we don’t have another round of players coming down, but we look a bit better.
“The team we selected earlier in the week is still on the teamsheet, which is a positive compared to last week!”
Away from the illnesses, one player primed to return this weekend is outside back Tommy Wyatt, who missed the opening game of the PREM season with a shoulder injury picked up in PREM Rugby Cup action.
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If he does come back into the squad, it’ll be his first PREM outing for the Chiefs in 16 months after an ACL injury meant he missed the entirety of last season.
“He’s back now, he’s over that shoulder bang he had. It wasn’t particularly bad, so that’s good news. He’s in full training now and available for selection.
Italian international Ross Vintcent is another name who could also come back into the mix in the near future, be it this weekend or next, after overcoming a hamstring injury picked up in pre-season.
“He’s close; whether this week is a week too early or not, we’ll have to wait and see. But he’s getting close.
“The hamstring issue was probably a little more than he realised at the time. He was very close; the last conversation I had with him before the Cardiff game (in pre-season), he said, ‘I could give it a go’, but we decided to pull him out as a precaution. It’s probably a good job we did, because he didn’t come into the next week as positive as that (before Cardiff).
“We’ve just got to make sure we get him fully fit, especially with him being a high-speed athlete; you need them to go absolutely flat out at full speed. We’ve got to make sure he’s right before we put him in the team.”
