They say that once you’ve had your break through, the hardest thing to get right is the sequel. Be it the second album, novel or professional rugby season, it’s often harder to get the follow up right, having hit an emotional peak of adrenaline during a maiden 12 months.
Last season, Exeter Chiefs introduced numerous new faces to the Sandy Park faithful, following the mass player exodus of established older stars the previous Summer. The 2023/24 Premiership Rugby campaign witnessed the Chiefs break through for the likes of wing Manny Feyi-Waboso, lock Rusi Tuima and back row Greg Fisilau, who followed up on their previously sporadic appearances, with consistent league and European caps with the Devon club.
The trio of talents all progressed into the England camp at different stages of the season, with Feyi-Waboso flying furthest as he made his Test debut against Italy in the 2024 Six Nations. Tuima and Fisilau were included in Steve Borthwick’s wider Summer training squad, but were eventually cut from the reduced touring squad for the trips to Japan and New Zealand.
Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter is excited to see his young players shine again in the 2024/25 season, and backs them to be hungrier with their break through terms under their belts. With such a significant percentage of Baxter’s squad heading into just their second Premiership calendar, the Chiefs boss hopes they keep the performances high. The last thing the Chiefs needs is to see the young talents falter to the proverbial ‘second season syndrome’, that can slow down even the brightest rising star.
“I’ll be honest with you, he’s (Feyi-Waboso) not one of the guys I’ve been concerned about. From the minute he’s come into training, all he wants to do is get on and improve and train and play. He’s a guy who’s desperate to get some more preseason games into him. We’re actually holding him back because he wants to get on and play, because he wants to be bang on form for when we play Leicester, on the first game of the season.
“The one concern I had at the end of last season, and I actually said it to players. I wasn’t going to hide it from them. I said; when you have your first season, where you break through and you think you’ve made it, you have two ways of going. You can go, ‘Oh, I’ve had a season of Premiership rugby. I’ve done it’. And you have a bit of a breather. You turn up not quite as motivated, not quite ready to go. You almost think it’s the process is done.
“And then you have the other guys, who turn up and go, ‘I got a taste of it. Some of my teammates play for England, and I want to do that’, maybe I don’t want to finish seventh in the league. I want to finish the top four. I want to be contesting the big semi-finals and finals, like I was watching on TV.
“We’ve got to try and cultivate those players and how they understand that, and not have that (second season syndrome). We only need to have what, 50% of those lads having a second season that’s not so good, and we’ll have a season that’s not so good, because there’s a lot of them. If we get the majority of the guys heading forwards and pushing on, wanting experiences for themselves and for the team, then we should push on as a side.”
Whilst Baxter is delighted to see his young prospects continuing to improve at club level, he understands that with such progression, international call-ups tend to follow. Baxter explained how he has an excellent working relationship with England head coach Steve Borthwick, but expressed the need for continued clarity after the RFU and Premiership Rugby unveiled the new Professional Game Partnership earlier this month.
A key element of the document hones in on Borthwick having greater control over the medical and fitness disciplines of his players. Specifically, Borthwick will be able to have the final say on his 25 top players, that will be signed to Enhanced England Player Squad contracts. Contrastingly, a further 50 England candidates will be signed to a regular England Player Squad contract, with the Premiership’s Directors of Rugby, including Exeter’s Rob Baxter, having the casting vote on his player’s match day inclusions for club or country.
“I think what Steve’s seeing in our players, and what we’re seeing in our players feels very aligned to me.” Baxter said, at the Premiership Rugby media launch day. “So that again, that part of it, what England want from the player, as a player, I don’t have any concerns around.
“But as I’ve said, my concerns around how the medical intervention part works, that’s the bit (thats a concern). Because ultimately, and I said this to Conor (O’Shea – RFU Executive Director of Performance Rugby), and I said it to Steve, the proof of the pudding of this agreement will be down the line.
“If all these England players, they play plenty of games for England, but they’re also fit to play Exeter Chiefs, in Premiership and Champions Cup games, there’s probably something that’s working because we’re aligned. They’re fit, they’re healthy, they’re ready to go. They’re playing the games.
“If we look in two, three years time, and they’re all playing England games, but none of them, they’re not playing club games, the clubs are going to turn around and go, ‘well, there’s an outcome, it doesn’t work for clubs’. None of us are really going to know until we get down the line. As I said, the communication with Steve has been great. I’ve got no initial issues at this time, that I don’t think initially will be dealt with.
“What’s going to be very important for every club is to feel comfortable enough that they have to speak to Steve first. That’s going to be important. I think Directors of Rugby speaking to Steve first, in fairness, before they speak to you guys (the media) about a problem, it’s going to be very important.”
The medical and fitness side of the Enhanced England Player Squad contracts was made more complicated, following the departure of Head of Strength and Conditioning Aled Walters, from Steve Borthwick’s England camp.
Walters has since taken up a spot amongst Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad, with Borthwick bringing in former Gloucester coach Dan Tobin to take over the vacancy. Baxter expressed how the exit of Walters came at a challenging time for Borthwick and the RFU, as they were ironing out the creases to get the PGP signed and over the line.
“I discussed it with Steve and he said, ‘is it a great scenario right here and now, just as we get to the thick end of this PGP agreement being released, of course it’s not great timing. Is there a lot you can do when a guy hands a notice in and moves on? No’.
“I’ve had to deal with that at club level as well. I think it’s one of those things. The next guy will come in and he’ll pick up that mantle, and we’ll discuss things with our S&C (Strength and Conditioning) staff. To be fair, we’ve already been in discussions around some of the elements that we discussed in the IDPs (Independent Development Plans).
“I’ve actually had the backwards and forwards emails today with Mark Twiggs, my S&C (coach), and with England staff about how we get the two things aligned. So, right here and now, things feel fine. It’s like I said, I think it’s going to be as we get through a season, two seasons, three seasons, then we’ll see.”
There is certainly an era of great change happening across English rugby, with the PGP agreement coming into fruition at the newly re-christened Allianz Stadium. Whilst the 82,000 capacity cathedral will forever be referred to as Twickenham, due to it’s long standing home in the South West of London, Baxter quipped how everything has a price in the ever-changing professional game.
However, aside from the new name that rugby fans and personnel are still getting used to, Baxter understands the need for the investment. With four English clubs going bust in the space of little over a year, the Chiefs DoR wants to see the Premiership thrive, and not add another historic club to the collapsed list of Worcester Warriors, Wasps, London Irish and Jersey Reds.
“As clubs, we’ve not been able to invest in the game. Post-covid, the salary caps went down, they’re only just returning now. Even now, people are talking about, ‘should they be going back up?’ There are a few clubs who are always talking that they haven’t got enough money. They (RFU) didn’t support the clubs through covid at all, which is one of my bug bears.
“To get a bit of extra money, we the clubs have to give up more control. I mean, it doesn’t sound like a completely aligned game in this country does it? That’s probably what it’s going to feel (like) for a bit. Having said that, I don’t think there aren’t areas for growth that we will embrace, and we will take on going forward.
“I think once the game takes off again, within a year or two, there’ll probably be discussions. If we can all grow crowds and we can create a great product, there will be discussions about the salary cap going up within the next 24, 36 months, like you can guarantee, it’s bound to be, and hopefully that’s where the game get to.
“Hopefully we’ll get a big TV deal, and game will be flooded with money! Twickenham – or the Allianz Stadium, will be selling out every week, Sandy Park will be selling out every week, and we can all be smiling.
“That just depends (selling the naming rights to Sandy Park). If someone comes in with enough money. There’s a price for everything at the moment!”