Exeter Chiefs vs Saracens: Lack of progression will frustrate Rob Baxter given his side’s lofty ambitions

This was meant to be the season the Exeter finally cracked Europe and became serious Champions Cup contenders, but a series of European defeats have left a bitter taste in the mouth

Exeter's European chances are thin and they face a huge domestic test against Saracens (Getty)

It is far too early to talk about the balloon bursting for Exeter Chiefs but the past three weeks have certainly proved a chastening time for the west countrymen of Rob Baxter and his squad.

This was meant to be the year. The year the Chiefs finally cracked Europe and took the only step left on their remarkable decade long journey by becoming serious Champions Cup players.

It hasn’t happened.

Back-to-back European defeats to Castres and losing to Gloucester, following an equally sobering Premiership defeat to Harlequins, have left Baxter’s team with almost no room for manoeuvre as another bleak Champions Cup campaign looms. It’s all made for an unusually gloomy December in south Devon.

Last week’s away win at Gloucester salvaged some much-needed pride, but Chiefs had anticipated playing for far more at this stage of the season.

It’s the first serious bump in the road for director of rugby Baxter on a journey, let’s not forget, which has seen Chiefs meteoric rise through the ranks of England’s professional rugby prove every bit as romantic and inspiring for rugby fans as Leicester City’s shock to football in winning the Premier League.

How Exeter respond in the coming months will define the club’s short-term future.

One knock-out appearance in Europe in six years is no sort of return for a club which has now firmly established itself as one of the Gallagher Premiership’s two powerhouse outfits and Exeter’s Champions Cup struggles have been emblematic of a deeper malaise in England’s top competition.

Baxter will care not a jot how other English clubs have fared, although it will surely be some comfort they are far from alone in failing to crack Europe, but for a club aiming for the stars, their lack of progress will be bitterly frustrating.

Saracens, their visitors at Sandy Park on Saturday, remain the one English club capable of consistently rubbing shoulders with Europe’s elite and they bring an unbeaten 22 game streak to Devon which would prove the perfect morale-boosting scalp for Chiefs to take at this stage of the season.

Exeter recently beat Gloucester but it may be too late to save their European campaign (PA)

In reality, with Saracens on nine wins from nine and Exeter’s late November loss to Quins proving their only domestic defeat of this season so far, both clubs are already as good as guaranteed home semi-finals.

With Gloucester 12 points behind second placed Exeter in the table, Chiefs and Saracens remain head and shoulders ahead of the pack.

But having reined Saracens in over recent years, especially with their memorable first Premiership title win in 2017 when they beat Wasps in the final after dispatching Mark McCall’s men in the semis, Chiefs will be desperate to avoid losing further ground to their fiercest rivals after last season’s comprehensive defeat in the final.

That loss gnaws away at the Chiefs every bit as much as their failure to progress in Europe.

Rob Baxter is refusing to panic (Getty)

Chiefs have not come this far without possessing both character and quality but the last few weeks cannot fail to have shaken collective belief in a system which has stood them in such good stead since they first broke onto the Premiership scene in 2009.

Domestic success has brought deserved international recognition and Baxter will be looking to the likes of England internationals Ben Moon, Harry Williams, Alec Hepburn, Henry Slade and Jack Nowell to carry his team against the defending champions.

Saracens, who have seemed to cruise through their Champions Cup pool, despite a couple of scares against Cardiff Blues, have not hit their straps this campaign but can still boost 13 wins from 13 in the major competitions.

They will arrive at Sandy Park confident of widening the gap even further and in Owen Farrell and Jamie George have two players who are now not just the fulcrum of their club side, but also England’s.

McCall has shuffled his pack for Saturday’s top-of-the-table encounter with fit-again George Kruis partnering Nick Isiekwe in the second row and Alex Lozowski starting on the right wing in place of Liam Williams, whose hamstring injury appears worse than first feared.

Maro Itoje continues to nurse the knee injury he picked up on England duty but the visitors still boast a wealth of international talent with Mako Vunipola and Vincent Koch completing a powerful front five.

It all adds up for a fascinating Premiership tussle between the two outstanding teams in England. Perhaps not too much to play for in terms of end-of-season standing, but so much to play for in terms of pride, belief and morale.

A full house at Sandy Park awaits an absorbing Premiership encounter between the best two teams in England, three days before Christmas.

What’s not to like?