Rob Baxter battles with ‘temptation’ as ‘desperate’ Len Ikitau makes timely return along with England snub
Len Ikitau (left) and Ethan Roots (right) are nearing a return to full fitness, Rob Baxter has confirmed
Exeter Chiefs look set to welcome back Wallabies star Len Ikitau and England international Ethan Roots sooner rather than later, director of rugby Rob Baxter has teased.
The pair have been sidelined for a large chunk of Exeter’s season, with Ikitau’s last outing coming against Saracens back in December while Roots has been out since February, but both appear to be making a timely return to full fitness as the Chiefs mount a concentrated march towards PREM and EPCR Challenge Cup success.
Exeter Chiefs set for major injury boost as Len Ikitau and Ethan Roots return teased
Ikitau and Roots aren’t the only players making a return to full fitness in the coming days and weeks, with Baxter detailing that a whole cohort are out on the training pitch again.
“The guys who are back in full training and ticking last boxes are Len Ikitau, Josh Iosefa-Scott, Ethan Roots, Paul Brown-Bampoe should be back after last week and Ben Hammersley,” he said.
“We’re starting to thicken out a little bit.
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“For most of them, Ethan is probably a little bit further along than the rest of them, but I would be surprised if we don’t see most of them involved in the next two or three weeks.”
However, the return of Ikitau in particular is a tricky balancing act for Baxter.
Despite his impact on the side and flourishing centre partnership with Henry Slade, the Wallabies ace has only featured five times for the Chiefs this season and has not taken to the pitch at all since the turn of the year.
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That length of time out will obviously leave the player desperate to play, but Baxter is keen not to rush him back too early.
“What you’ve got to do is follow the medical advice, follow the programme and get those decisions correct for the player,” he said. “Len is desperate to play, but he’s also got one or two little boxes to tick to make sure he’s properly ready to go.
“Pushing him early is always a temptation,” Baxter continued. “But I think we know exactly where we are with Len and we’ll get that process correct.”
Elsewhere, Ehren Painter made his return to the field after 15 months out with an ACL injury in a midweek friendly against the Navy, and is now back in full contention for the senior side.
“He came through fully fit (against the Navy), so he’s declared fully fit. The biggest challenge for him is to get him game time,” said Baxter.
“He’s come back after 15 months with an ACL injury, which is a pretty significant injury for a prop and for a big guy, but our next few games are on 4G, which isn’t always recommended for guys when they come back from these injuries. Getting him game-time and getting him game-ready could be a challenge, but hopefully we can find a way to do that.”
