Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter prepares for crucial game with Leeds Carnegie
Exeter Chiefs coach Rob Baxter has admitted that their Aviva Premiership match with Leeds Carnegie on Saturday 20 November is a crucial fixture.
Exeter were tipped to be relegated from the Aviva Premiership having just been promoted to the league at the end of last season. However, the team has defied the odds and find themselves in ninth position
in the table and twelve points clear of relegation rivals Leeds, who are routed to the bottom of the table.
Despite the Chiefs good start to the season, Baxter was quick to emphasise that the match was still extremely important for his team.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Devon, Baxter said, "The fixture is still as big as it would have been regardless of any other scenarios. If you look at the table now, we can put some distance between
ourselves and the bottom of the table with a win. The distance to the bottom of the table narrows considerably with a loss."
Exeter have picked up 14 points this season and have proved to be more than competitive in every Premiership game so far this season.
Wins against Gloucester, Saracens and Wasps have given the team a great chance of survival and Baxter admitted that remaining in the Aviva Premiership was the club’s main priority. "It's all about the
Premiership for us and there's no point in running away from that," said Baxter.
The Exeter coach believes that his team will need to show the right mentality if they are to beat Leeds and take a huge step in consolidating their Premiership status. Baxter said, "For us it's about getting
ourselves in the correct frame of mind mentally and getting through the right preparation. The boys have worked very hard on their analysis and preparation this week, we've now have to get ourselves 100 per cent in the right frame of mind.”
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