Exeter successfully executed plan to fatigue Toulouse, says Rob Baxter
Rob Baxter cannot help but beam as he recalls that when Toulouse won the first edition of what was to become known as the Heineken Champions Cup in 1996, he was playing for Exeter in the fourth tier of English rugby scoring tries against the likes of Redruth.
Fast-forward 24 years and as director of rugby Baxter has led Exeter to a first ever Champions Cup final, ten years on from his side being promoted up to Premiership. “It is incredible isn’t it? The [journey] is part of what we are about as a club. It has always been about having things to aim and go for,” he said.
“The important thing is to not go away, it is a little bit like this club’s history. We dropped down to the fourth division and got promoted and spent ages in the Championship trying to get out of there.
“We slowly built this place and we got there and we haven’t gone away. These decisions to keep going and not go away are the most important.”
With a hearty chuckle the 49-year-old says that in his playing days with Exeter he never could have imagined getting to the place they are in today beating four-time European champions Toulouse – describing the scenario of now versus then as being on “ two different planets.”
He added: “I am not going to say it is a dream come though because it is the reality and the reality has been a lot of hard work from good people. It does feel like a fantastic achievement.”
In the first 20 minutes Toulouse edged 6-0 ahead but Baxter said it was part of the plan to work the opposition hard. “We were six points down, but all the movement and hard work we wanted Toulouse to have to do, had happened in that first 20 minutes,
"It's having an 80-minute game plan and having a confidence in it and the lads buying into it, that ultimately saw us through today.
"Big games of rugby, they are like boxing matches. At some stages, the guy who can't get his hands up any more can get knocked out. And we created enough of those moments today.”
With three out of four tries coming from forwards and the visitor’s backs including World Cup winning South African Cheslin Kolbe not being able to get into the game, Baxter played special tribute to his forwards.
“We said to the forwards during the week you are going to have to scrummage every scrum because you want to fatigue them at set piece and if we get a maul set you want to work it and work and work it to fatigue them,” he continued. “What is the best way to fatigue a big guy? You get them on the floor and you make them get up. That is what we did really well.”
“Our bigger forwards made chop tackles and blocked guys to the floor and didn’t wrestle with them which is typical of French forwards coming around the corner they like a wrestle, a hand off and a bit of an off load, that is how they try to develop their game and that is what I thought we did really well.”
With the final to be played just over 60 miles away in Bristol, Baxter feels that is the reward his side deserve for finishing the pool stages as top seeds. “Going up the road for the final is the reward you get for the final is the reward you get for working hard through the pool,” he said.
“That is how it works, we came out of the pools as the top seed, so the game should be up the road for us if it is not dedicated to stadium for the final. In any other competition that is how it should be. If Racing were a higher seed, it would be in France and that is the reality. We got that because of the work the players have done.”
