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A post-World Cup rest? Not if you're an England player at Exeter

Henry Slade closes his eyes following England's World Cup final loss last Saturday (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Henry Slade is set to start in the Premiership for Exeter just eight days after featuring for England in their World Cup final defeat to South Africa.

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The centre, who came on in the 50th minute in Yokohama, comes straight back into the Chiefs XV that will host Bristol on Sunday at Sandy Park. 

But he won’t be the sole England World Cup player involved. Luke Cowan-Dickie, a 60th-minute replacement against the Springboks in the decider, has been chosen on the Exeter bench as has Jack Nowell, whose finals campaign in Japan was contrastingly largely restricted by injury. 

The return of the England trio to the Exeter matchday fold comes at the end of a week where the Chiefs have been very outspoken about the salary cap sanctions meted out to rivals Saracens. 

With the £5.3million fine and 35-point deduction now set for an appeal that is unlikely to be heard until the new year, Rob Baxter has admitted he held a team meeting on Friday with the aim of getting the focus firmly back on on-field matters. 

(Continue reading below…)

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“We’ve actually just cleared the decks a little bit in our meeting today [Friday] ,” explained Baxter on his club’s website. “I just sat in front of all the players and said, ‘What do you think of all this salary cap stuff?’ At first, they all looked at me a bit strangely, but I know they have all been talking about it and I know they will all feel differently about it all. 

“Some will feel sorry for themselves as they think things haven’t been all that fair. Others will be angry and others will be looking forward to playing Saracens again.

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“Across the board, there are all kinds of emotions, but what I’ve just said to them all is let’s make sure we clarify what we are all about.

“We are a club that have an important Premiership game this Sunday. We’ve worked very hard to be here and this is what should occupy all of our energy.

“As I said to them all, it’s good not to run away from interesting conversations the lads are going to have amongst themselves, simply because by doing that it now allows us to get out and train really well for Bristol.”

WATCH: Former Saracens player Jim Hamilton discusses the salary cap scandal surrounding his former club

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
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