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England make club exception for Exeter's Henry Slade
By PA
Henry Slade is available for Exeter’s Gallagher Premiership clash with Harlequins as he attempts to prove his fitness ahead of England’s Autumn internationals.
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The 31-year-old centre has been released from Steve Borthwick’s training camp in Girona to return to his club ahead of Sunday’s fixture at Sandy Park in which he could make his first competitive appearance of the season after recovering from shoulder surgery.
Should he emerge unscathed, he would be in line to win his 66th cap against New Zealand at Allianz Stadium on November 2.
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Asked about his availability this weekend, Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “Sladey is available, which is obviously fantastic news for us.
“To be fair to England, they’ve been very good about it, Henry wants some game-time. They obviously want to see him in a game, we obviously want to see him in a game.
“I think more than anything else, it’s when the player wants to play and he wants to get out there, that’s probably the key to pulling it all together.
“Between ourselves and England, we’ve come to as good an arrangement as possible. He’s spent some time with England, he’ll have a training day with us today and play at the weekend, so that’s good news for us.
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“Obviously he’s a very important player, a player we’ve missed so far this season both on and off the field, really, in a lot of ways, so that’s good news.”
Slade’s lack of rugby means he will be closely monitored, like any player returning from a significant injury, as he steps back into the competitive arena.
However, Baxter revealed England have taken a light-touch approach to the management of his comeback since his return for the Autumn fixtures became a possibility with no hard and fast arrangement in place over how long he will play this weekend.
Asked if his contribution would be “micromanaged” given the implications for England, he said: “I wouldn’t say micromanaged is the correct word.
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“Obviously from England’s perspective, they would actually feel more comfortable if he had some game-time and we’re obviously keen for him to play.
“But we’re also keen to help Sladey get the prep right that he needs because I think he would be ending up going into the England camp and potentially playing anyway regardless of this scenario, so Steve and I just talked through the scenarios of what could make it work for both of us.
“Obviously if Henry is involved on Sunday, he has a short turnaround into England’s game, which means he has limited training on Monday, so he has a limited training week with them, and so really between us we discussed the ideal situation and it was he spent the beginning of the week with England, he’s over here in time to finish our training week and that makes him available for the weekend.
“The intensity of the game, metres run, the speed of the game, that’s going to dictate more how long Sladey is around.”
