We're not afraid of title talk, says Exeter boss Rob Baxter

30 April 2016 12:23

Exeter boss Rob Baxter wants title talk to resonate around Sandy Park as the Aviva Premiership season builds towards its climax.

Both the Chiefs and Sunday's visitors Wasps have secured play-off places alongside league leaders Saracens, with Leicester set to complete the quartet ahead of the semi-finals next month.

Victory in their last two regular season games should mean a home tie for Exeter, and Baxter wants the Chiefs to relish what lies ahead.

"We can run around as much as we like, but the truth is we are in the top four now and only two games away from potentially winning the Premiership," he said.

"I am not afraid to talk about that. We don't normally here at Exeter talk like that. Instead, we tend to talk about the next step and where we want to be.

"This season, though, we have knocked off being in the top six, which is fantastic, and we have knocked off being in the top four, which again is fantastic.

"Now, we have only really got two goals left, one of which is trying to get a home semi-final in the play-offs, and the other is winning the Premiership.

"You can see from our results this season, plus the consistency we have shown, it has driven us into the top four with two games remaining, which is pretty good going.

"That said, we should want more. Once you tick off top six, then top four, you should want more, and I am not afraid to say we want a home semi-final and we want to win the Premiership. Why not?

"Right now, we are two games away from being Premiership champions, regardless of what happens over these next two weeks (against Wasps and Harlequins). Let's start talking and feeling like we can challenge ourselves and put pressure on ourselves to now deliver.

"If you do that, more often than not you can come through the big games.

"The truth is, however, everyone is going to be up for these big games. Wasps will come down here knowing they can secure a home semi-final if they beat us, so we have to match them, be better, be more accurate and get our detail right out on the pitch from start to finish."

Wasps will secure a home play-off if they triumph in Devon, as they return to action eight days after suffering a European Champions Cup semi-final defeat against Saracens.

"Exeter will have had the benefit of having had a week off, and I am sure they will have a bit of a sting in their tail from losing to us in the European quarter-final," Wasps rugby director Dai Young said.

"They have been in pole position for second place in the league for most of the season, and they will be determined to get themselves a home semi-final."

London Irish's unbroken 20-year membership of the English rugby elite, meanwhile, will effectively end if they are beaten by Harlequins on Sunday.

Should that scenario unfold, then only the unlikely event of Bedford winning this season's Greene King IPA Championship would keep Irish afloat.

Bedford's fellow Championship title challengers Bristol, Yorkshire Carnegie and Doncaster have all met minimum standards criteria to play in the Aviva Premiership next season.

The trio, plus Bedford, will be involved in opening Championship play-offs this weekend, but Bedford did not apply to have their ground audited and would not be promoted if they win the Championship, offering Irish a lifeline, although Bristol are red-hot title favourites.

Irish have been ever-present in the Premiership since its launch in 1997, having returned to English rugby's old first division a year earlier.

But they go into a Madejski Stadium clash against Quins, seven points adrift of 11th-placed Newcastle - the Falcons visit Saracens on Sunday - with just two games left.

Source: PA