Champions Cup: Exeter Chiefs must beat Gloucester in final chance to prove themselves on European stage

Exeter openly targeted a good run in the Champions Cup but are on the brink of elimination

The Chiefs are rooted to the bottom of Pool 2 (Getty)

Exeter Chiefs head into Friday’s must-win European encounter with Gloucester knowing that not a lot has gone right in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, with the Premiership heavyweights almost certain to be out of the reckoning if they fail to claim a bonus-point victory.

Having taken just three points from their games against Munster, Castres and Gloucester, Exeter sit at the bottom of Pool 2 and staring elimination in the face from a competition that director of rugby Rob Baxter so openly targeted before the season started.

By his own admission, Baxter has not quite got it right this season when it’s come to balancing the departure of his growing international contingent with how they prepare for Premiership and European fixtures, and it looks to have come back to haunt him.

“We’ve had a good look at it, we’ve talked to the players about it, and I am not sure whether we were waiting for the Heineken Cup to come round a little bit, without really going after those Premiership games and practicing being right at the level we need to be for the Heineken Cup,” Baxter said, having rested all of his international players in the first week out of the November window when Exeter suffered defeat against Harlequins.

“It’s a really difficult balance and it’s not something yet we have got right as results are showing that. However, we do feel we are getting there and adjusting to situations as we go along. Sometimes, though, it’s the first time you deal with things where you learn the most.

“It’s the first time that we’ve had to deal with seven internationals being away and coming back just before the Heineken Cup period. It’s the first time we’ve chosen through that three-week period to talk about some of our preparation about getting ready for the Heineken Cup.

“Has it worked out right for us? Saturday’s performance shows not.

“Is it something we can work to improve and remember in the future? Yes.”

The problem is for Baxter is that on top of his attempts to find a balance between rotating players and battle-hardening them, he also has a mounting injury list that by all account swelled out of control this week.

England centre Henry Slade was a notable absentee from the side that Baxter named to face Gloucester at Kingsholm, yet joining him from last weekend’s squad is Wales wing Alex Cuthbert, flanker Matt Kvesic, Ollie Atkins and scrum-half duo Nic White and Stu Townsend. That alone would hinder Baxter’s selection, but when added to an already-absent list of Dave Ewers, Sam Simmonds Olly Woodburn, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Toby Salmon and Jonny Hill, Baxter had few alternatives than to draft the likes of Sean Lonsdale and Tom Lawday into the pack and Tom O’Flaherty in the back line.

Gloucester have no such problems. Johan Ackermann has finally been able to hand the South Africa lock Franco Mostert his first start since joining from Super Rugby outfit the Lions after a long-running dispute over the move, and he starts in a strong pack that also features the returning captain Ed Slater.

The backs feature changes that will whet the appetite too as Jason Woodward returns at full-back and Charlie Sharples on the wing, while centre Henry Trinder is ruled out and replaced by Billy Twelvetrees.

While Exeter teeter in the edge of elimination, Gloucester can throw themselves into the mix for last-eight progression. If they manage to pull off a second straight victory over Exeter, they will be clear of their Premiership rivals and, providing Munster repeat their win last week over Castres, will be in two-horse race to secure top spot in Pool 2. Suddenly, the garden doesn’t look so rosy for Exeter, at least when it comes to Europe, and if they are to prove themselves capable of stepping up to join the very best on the continent, this Friday would be a good time to start doing that.