Premiership: Exeter boss Rob Baxter takes aim at RFU decision to deny clubs promotion
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter has expressed that it will be “very disappointing” if Ealing or Doncaster are denied promotion to the Premiership.
Both clubs have been informed that their grounds are too small to meet the minimum standards in the Premiership and will subsequently be denied promotion.
The Chiefs boss has since come out to bat for the two pace-setting Championship outfits, stating that he would like to see the door to the top flight remain open.
Promotion and relegation
“I want there to be promotion and relegation,” Baxter told BBC Sport.
“I want the door to be open because morally I think that’s the right thing to do.”
Baxter has seen first hand the value of promotion after taking Exeter up in 2010 and winning two Premiership titles in the coming years.
The decision by the Rugby Football Union is because neither team have a minimum capacity of 10,000 in their ground, with Baxter remembering well their own situation 12 years ago.
“At the same time though I also know how hard it was to meet some of the minimum standards,” he added.
“I also think there needs to be some reality on making sure that that minimum standard coming up is at the correct level as well, to make sure that it is genuinely attainable.
“Anyone who was watching us in the season we got promoted, we were building a terrace at the bottom end of the pitch and we started building it well before we knew whether we were going to get promoted or not.
“That’s probably the difficulty isn’t it – that so much of it has to be in place before you know whether you’re getting promoted or not, and it’s a big financial burden.
“I’d be a hypocrite if i said that because Exeter are here now it should stop. Of course it shouldn’t. It should be there, it should be active and it should be available to any team that can aspire to do it.”
READ MORE: Harlequins handed Joe Marler boost for Newcastle Falcons clash
