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Saracens the team to beat for aspiring champions – Baxter
By Russell Greaves
Saracens are the team that any aspiring Premiership champions must beat if they are to claim top honours for themselves, says Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter.
A second consecutive top-flight and European Champions Cup double is on the cards for Sarries after Saturday's Murrayfield triumph over Clermont Auvergne, with the Chiefs their next opponents in this weekend's play-off semi-final.
Exeter, who were beaten 34-13 by the title holders at Sandy Park this season, have home advantage and Baxter is relishing the challenge of taking on the side who defeated them 28-20 in last term's final.
"We are comfortable with the way we are playing and I am okay with facing Saracens," said Baxter in quotes reported by The Guardian.
"They are not a team I was desperate to avoid: you win things by taking people out, not avoiding them. For us, it was about getting a home semi-final, not about who we faced.
"They are the best defensive team in the Premiership and that will make it tough. There are some different things you need to do against them, but we have beaten them home and away in the past.
"We have found a way to score tries against them and it is not mission impossible. If you aspire to be Premiership champions, you have to take Saracens out. Sandy Park will be packed to the rafters and it will be another great occasion."
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Latest Comments
I agree with a lot of this. Especially changing the contract side of AB rugby - even if the current structure is not the main reason Razor and others before him keep selecting players past their prime and only introducing new ones when forced to by injury. Then they act all surprised when a new player lives up to their potential and performs! Deification of good older players is a problem because, like Foster, it implies they have secret knowledge that plebs don't - despite the evidence before our eyes. Razor's first year has been a pretty big average and one hopes he gets some courage back around selection and game plan from lessons learned this year. Not hopeful though based on the selection for Italy. If they win well, (as they should) he will tout it as justification for his persistence this year but the reality is a "second" team from the squad would probably do the job.
Go to commentsIrish injury count is going up by the minute.
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