By Mark Stevens
24/11/22
Rob Baxter has challenged his Exeter Chiefs side to meet the threat of rivals Newcastle Falcons ‘head on’ when the two clash tomorrow night in Round 11 of the Gallagher Premiership.
In what is the longest domestic trip of the season for the Chiefs, the visitors will arrive at Kingston Park (7:45pm) looking to build on their victory against London Irish last time out.
That success ended a three-game losing streak for the Devonians, who sit sixth in the current standings having played eight games so far this term.
Tomorrow, however, they arrive in the North East to face a Falcons outfit, who themselves are flying high after claiming a notable scalp at Gloucester a fortnight ago.
Despite picking up four yellow cards at Kingsholm, Dave Walder’s side still had enough about them to secure the victory and Baxter is aware of the threat they will pose to his side, particularly on home turf.
“Whenever you go there, it’s always a tough test,” said Baxter. “Last season was close up there, I think we won with a penalty late on, and they beat us down here. We had a young side out that day – and we missed lots of opportunities to score – but equally they stuck in there and they got that win.
“That was a challenging time in the season for us and it’s a challenging time for us now as well. Watching them in their win against Gloucester, you can see they’ve got a confidence about them and that they are enjoying playing for one another, so it’s a big challenge for us.
“Equally, we’ve got to embrace that challenge, face it head on and look to make ourselves a better team for it. That’s what we will say to the team, not just today, but in the whole build-up to Friday night. We need them to be emotional; we need them to stick to things; and we need them to drive the game plan through.”
