Chiefs side to face Saracens

Posted on Sep 21, 2012 in Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter is hoping he and his side can put to bed the frustration of recent defeats – and produce a big display when they welcome Saracens to Sandy Park in Sunday’s Aviva Premiership clash (2.15pm).

After narrow back-to-back losses on the road to Northampton Saints and London Welsh, Sunday’s showdown represents a welcome return to home comforts for the Chiefs, who kicked off their league campaign with a powerful 43-6 display against Sale Sharks on Devon turf.

Standing in their way this weekend, however, will be a Saracens side who themselves have started the season brightly with victories over London Irish and Sale, before battling out a 9-9 draw with Leicester Tigers at Wembley Stadium last time out.

It will be another tough examination for Baxter and his squad, but one the group are keen to take on after their recent disappointments.

"Yes it was frustrating not to win those games, but that’s what it is," said Baxter. "Every game of Premiership rugby is tough and at the end of the day we came away with something from both those fixtures. Our major aim was to be competitive in every game and we were certainly competitive up in Oxford.

"We would have liked to have won – of course we would have – and did we feel we played as well as could have? Of course we don’t. But there is still a reality that in the closing stages we were six points up, but then made a couple of mistakes and the game got away from us. We’ve done that to other teams ourselves in the Premiership and sometimes you have to take it on the chin and say today we weren’t good enough. As I said afterwards, it’s not the end of the world, but we know we have to be better next time."

Certainly both games have heralded positives for the Chiefs and it’s those that Baxter is keen to focus on ahead of Sunday’s match, rather than reflect too much on the negatives which arose.

"It was our best performance we’ve ever put in at Northampton," he added. "Whilst it wasn’t our best performance away from home at London Welsh – and sometimes you have to take it on the chin. There are various reasons why things happen and on occasions you just have to face facts and get on with it.

"For us there is no great panic and we haven’t massively changed anything this week. Instead we have just got down to some hard work, we’ve talked about the mistakes we made, and we’ve tinkered one or two things as look to get stuck into the Saracens game. We have done that every single week in the Premiership, whether we have won or lost, and this week is no different."

For sure part of the discussion inside the confines of Sandy Park this week will be on cranking up the performance levels in a bid to combat the threat of the former champions, who have won all but one of the four previous Premiership meetings between the two clubs.

"They are a very good side and we’ve only beaten them once in the four times we’ve played them in the Premiership," warned Baxter. "But there are a lot of teams with a similar record against them. They play a very attritional style of rugby, which can be tough to break down, and it will be a great test for us.

"That, however, is what the Premiership is all about – if we are not a team and a set of players who don’t want to be tested like this – then we shouldn’t be here. We keep reminding ourselves of that every week and I do think it tends to bring the best out of us. Looking at the guys this week, I think we will have a performance full of energy, full of vigour and we will have guys who will play better than they did last week."

Certainly the Chiefs will need to be at their best against a Sarries side, who won last season’s fixture at Sandy Park 17-13.

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Baxter’s joy at duo sign new deals

Posted on Sep 20, 2012 in Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has spoken of his delight after he this week tied up the immediate futures of two of his first team squad to new deals at Sandy Park.

Welsh international prop Craig Mitchell has agreed a new one-year contract, whilst winger Matt Jess has in turn penned a two-year deal with the Devon club.

The news is a major boost to Baxter, who said: “I think recruitment and retention are year-round things, they’re not something that starts at Christmas or two months before the end of the season.

“It’s great that these guys are seeing where we want to go and what we want to achieve. I know they’re ambitious players who are probably coming into their prime for what they’re going to be as players, so for them to commit nice and early is great for the club and I think it’ll be great for the players.

“I’m seeing both of these guys coming on in leaps and bounds and for us as a club to have them for the foreseeable future is great.

“The more guys you can get tied down, feeling relaxed and comfortable and knowing where they are for a little while creates a nice balance and solidity to the squad. It means you get a lot of guys training well and playing well and it’s a much more stable to be working in.”

Jess, who is poised to make his 100th appearance in total for the Chiefs this weekend against Saracens, joined the club in the summer of 2008 from the Cornish Pirates and since gone on to score 47 tries.

Mitchell, meanwhile, moved to Exeter from the Ospreys at the start of last season and has since gone on to establish himself as a key figure in the Chiefs pack, making 24 tries and scoring his solitary try in our away win at Gloucester.

Tom Hayes seeks a response from Exeter team mates

Posted on Sep 18, 2012 in Exeter Chiefs

Exeter Chiefs captain Tom Hayes insists he and his team-mates have already banished the disappointment of Sunday’s Aviva Premiership defeat to London Welsh to the back of their minds – and are now focusing their thoughts firmly on this weekend’s visit of Saracens to Sandy Park.

Having kicked off their league campaign with a stunning opening day victory over Sale Sharks, the Chiefs have since slipped to successive away-day defeats against Northampton Saints and league newcomers Welsh.

Devon’s finest looked on course for victory at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium last Sunday, but Seb Jewell’s conversion, following a try by Ed Jackson, condemned Rob Baxter’s team to a narrow 25-24 loss.

Next up is fourth-placed Saracens at Sandy Park – and the Irish lock says the Chiefs are determined to get their campaign back on track.

"It is a tough game, but all games in the Premiership are tough games," he said. "We enter a tough block of games now over the next five weeks starting with Saracens at home. We will just prepare as well as we can and be as positive as we can going into the game and control as much of it as we can.

"It will be good to get back to Sandy Park for us. There is always a good atmosphere down there and we are looking forward to next week and, hopefully, we can do enough to get the Sandy Park crowd to spur us on."

Like head coach Baxter, Hayes is refusing to be too downcast about Sunday’s setback, which ensured Welsh of their maiden victory in the top flight.

"It proves that, no matter how good a start you make, a game of rugby is not beyond you until 80 minutes are up," Hayes said. "We learnt that pretty quick when we came up to the Premiership and it hasn’t really changed.

"This is our third season in the Premiership and, no matter who you are up against, it takes an awful lot for a game to be put out of your reach and Sunday proved that.

"Rob always talks about not getting on emotional roller-coasters. You win games, you lose games. We lost by a point and if we had won by a point, nothing much would have changed from the other 79 minutes of the match because we would still have played just as well or just as badly.

"We won’t get too carried away by it, although it is very disappointing and there is no denying that. We will put it behind us and move on and try and be as positive as we can next weekend."

Although disappointed with Exeter’s display against the Exiles, Hayes was quick to praise the work put in by Lyn Jones’ side in only their third Premiership fixture.

"You have to give credit to London Welsh. They never dropped their heads," Hayes said. "They were 14-0 down fairly early, but they came straight back into the game, started putting pressure on and capitalised on any errors that we made. That is what you have to do in the Premiership.

"I think a lot of it is about controlling momentum and controlling the pressure, and they have won a lot of games in their back yard.

"They will take a lot of confidence out of the win. The first two games were not the best of starts for them, but they have got a few points on the board now and, sometimes, getting over that first hurdle can be the hardest thing. We’ll have to see if they can kick on from here."

Tickets for Sunday’s clash with Saracens are available through the club’s official website -www.exeterchiefs.co.uk – or via the Trading Post, which is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm.

Welsh make one change to face Chiefs

Posted on Sep 14, 2012 in London Welsh

London Welsh head coach Lyn Jones makes just one change from the starting line up which faced Harlequins for Sunday’s Round 3 clash with Exeter Chiefs at the Kassam Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 3pm).

Nick Scott, who scored seven tries in 12 Championship appearances for the Exiles last season after joining the club on loan from Bath, comes in for Joe Ajuwa on the wing, with Scott’s place on the bench taken by the versatile James Lewis.

The only other change sees Jonah Holmes, a try scorer against Harlequins in the sides’ Aviva A League meeting, return to the London Welsh match-day 23 in place of Nick Runciman.

Sunday could also throw up a bit of sibling rivalry with London Welsh full back Tom Arscott set to head-to- head with Exeter full back and brother Luke.

Sunday will be the sides’ first meeting since Exeter’s 2009/10 promotion season – the inaugural season of the Championship. A 13-9 defeat at Sandy Park during the regular season was reversed by the Exiles at Old Deer Park, 12-10, thanks to Guy Mercer’s last gasp try and Gordon Ross’ conversion.

The sides met again in that season’s play-offs with the Exiles going down 32-6 at Sandy Park, before extracting revenge, 16-15, in the return game, which was played at Esher’s Molesey Road ground.

London Welsh: 15. Tom Arscott, 14. Phil Mackenzie*, 13. Sonny Parker*, 12. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 11. Nick Scott, 10. Gordon Ross*, 9. Tyson Keats, 1. Frank Montanella*, 2. Neil Briggs, 3. Paulica Ion*, 4 Jonathan Mills ©, 5. Matt Corker, 6. Daniel Browne, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. Dan George, 17. Tom Bristow, 18. Arthur Joly, 19. Kirill Kulemin*, 20. Alfie To’oala*, 21. Jonah Holmes, 22. James Lewis, 23. Seb Jewell.

* Denotes full international

RUGBY TEAM NEWS: Sales Sharks to face Exeter Chiefs

Posted on Aug 31, 2012 in Sale Sharks

Sale Sharks have named their squad for the Aviva Premiership opener against Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday (kick off 3.00 p.m.)

Corne Uys and Richie Gray will make their debuts for the club, with Danny Cipriani set to make it three if he comes off the bench.

Sale Sharks: 15.Rob Miller, 14.Will Addison,13.Johnny Leota, 12.Sam Tuitupou,11.Corne Uys, 10.Nick Macleod,9. Dwayne Peel,1.Eifion Lewis-Roberts,2.Joe Ward, 3.Vadim Cobilas ,4.Richie Gray, 5.Fraser McKenzie , 6.James Gaskell ,7.David Seymour (capt.), 8.Andy Powell.

Replacements 16.Marc Jones, 17.Ross Harrison, 18.Tony Buckley, 19.Kearnan Myall, 20.Richie Vernon,21.Cillian Willis,22.Danny Cipriani,23.Jordan Davies.

Looking ahead to the game, Sale Sharks’ Director of Rugby Bryan Redpath said, “Nobody’s hiding from the fact how tough the Chiefs are down there. Last year’s performance at Sandy Park wasn’t good enough and Sale Sharks suffered. The key thing is that we travel South West with a clear mind-set of what we need to do. We have to turn up with our A1 game to compete down there.

“Exeter will be red hot favourites to win because they don’t often lose at home, so we’ve nothing to lose and will give it our best shot. There were differences between our pre-season games against Glasgow and Leinster in terms of intensity and the playing conditions. The squad we’ve selected get the first crack at it and we’ll see where we are after this game.”