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Rob Baxter explains spying mission plan to fix depleted Exeter squad
By Neil Fissler
Rob Baxter has admitted he is ready to return to his happy hunting ground, BUCS Super Rugby, to bolster his injury-hit Exeter squad. The Chiefs director of rugby was set to travel to Topham on a spying mission on Wednesday afternoon to watch Exeter University open their campaign against Loughborough Students.
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Baxter’s squad has been hit by injuries at inside centre and scrum-half and he claimed that anyone who impresses him could face Premiership champions Northampton Saints this weekend. Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza, Ross Vintcent and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso have all gone from playing BUCS rugby to the Test arena within a couple of seasons.
This success rate has left Baxter admitting that he would rather give Joe Bailey, Kaine James or Ben Coen, whom he says are “a stone’s throw” away from his squad, a game rather than bring in a short-term journeyman.
“We are pretty thin, to be honest with you, so we are now looking at our academy guys. The good news is a couple of them will be playing a BUCS game this afternoon, so I will be going down and looking at that.
“The reality is that one of those lads, if they play well, could be playing Premiership rugby in a week or two, but we are going to be in that cycle for a year or two.
“It was always going to be a year or two when you see the young guys breaking through and establishing what will be our front-line group for five or six years going forward and we are very happy to accept that.
“I’m not sitting here ready to ship in a journeyman at inside centre to fill in for a bit. That is not what I’m looking to do. I would rather have two academy lads playing in the centre next week in the Premiership.
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“That is how we are going to approach these periods if we have to. The best part of the job for me is recruitment and looking at players.”
Ben Hammersley (concussion) and Niall Armstrong (ankle) have been added to a long injury list that includes Henry Slade, Jenkins, Tamati Tua and Tommy Wyatt, most of whom are a month away from playing again for a team that launched its new Premiership campaign with a last-gasp 17-14 home defeat to Leicester at the weekend.
Baxter did have some good news, however, about flanker Jacques Vermeulen, who suffered a knee injury in the final warm-up game against Ulster. He could be back training in a couple of weeks.
“It doesn’t look as bad as initially feared. It’s a swollen, bruised knee with a bit of bone bruising more than ligament and cartilage damage. We are hoping that in the next couple of weeks, he will be back in full training, and we can start to progress with him.”
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