Rob Baxter opens up on ‘hard work’ facing Exeter Chiefs after sixth successive defeat
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter.
Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has disclosed his team have “a lot of hard work” ahead of them going into the international break, and will be using the Premiership Rugby Cup block as a “mini pre-season” to turn things around.
Following today’s 36-19 defeat to Harlequins, the Chiefs have lost all six of their opening Premiership fixtures, and sit ninth in the table.
“We look stuck in the headlights”
This was an improved performance following their disaster at Kingston Park last weekend, but yet Exeter still allowed Harlequins to run a ruckus at Sandy Park, and Baxter said his team “looked stuck in the headlights” as Quins ran riot in attack.
“Truth is we look stuck in the headlights. When Quins had the ball, we just couldn’t get on the move until they made a break and scrambled like mad,” he said.
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He added: “I’m not trying to make light of anything, but we’ve got a lot of hard work to get done. I’m not going to stand here and say it’s this area or that area, but it’s what the situation creates. I’ve got to keep working extremely hard to get us through this. For some of these lads, it’ll be a great experience but for some, it’s going to be an awful one.”
He also spoke candidly on his emotions at the moment following his team’s lacklustre start to the campaign but said his squad need to get through it for things to improve.
“It’s very hard. I don’t like seeing the players looking the way they are because of the performances and results, I don’t like walking through our members when it’s like this, of course, I don’t, this means a lot to me. We’ve got to get on with it though, we can’t hide ourselves away, so here and now we’ve got to get on with it,” he said.
“Without doubt, the pressure we’re feeling and the lack of confidence is coming out in our performances. Ultimately, we’ve got a lot of standing up to do.”
“Mini pre-season”
Exeter now head into a pivotal Premiership Rugby Cup block, where they take on local rivals Cornish Pirates, Hartpury and Gloucester; and Baxter said his side will be using this as a “mini pre-season” to turn things around.
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“I’ve just said to the lads this is a mini pre-season for us,” he continued. “We’ve got a lot of hard work to do and there’s going to be a lot of hard training sessions, but there’s a lot of players who will get good minutes until we settle into a way of playing.”
Henry Slade performance
A huge positive for the Chiefs, despite the result, was the return of Henry Slade, and Baxter was full of praise for the returning back.
“For a guy who’s been out as long as he (Henry Slade) has, I thought he looked pretty good. It wasn’t faultless, but he got some good minutes into him and did some good things for us, he created good defensive pressure that led to turnovers,” he said.
“Not everything was great, he was a bit rusty on the catch and pass but that’s to be expected. We haven’t been able to give him some decent chunky time in a tough training environment, so overall he’s done pretty well for us.”
Slade had yet to feature at all in the Premiership this season, but is now in line to start for England against the All Blacks next weekend.
