Even in his ninth decade, Rob Baxter’s father John is still an active presence on the family’s farm in Devon. Hard work is a given for both men and Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, won’t be changing from that mantra anytime soon.
Despite being in charge of the Chiefs for the past 17 years, his drive remains as high as ever and he has re-signed on a long-term deal to stay at Sandy Park.
‘You either have a good work ethic or you don’t,’ Baxter tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘When you’re loading bails on the farm, there can be hundreds of them in the field and when you start, it looks like you’re not moving any. There’s a stubbornness to it. Slowly, but surely, you get there.
‘You do that so often in farming. You can’t give up. Milking a herd of cows is another example. There are always animals to feed.
‘It’s the same in rugby. The next game is always coming. There’s life in me yet, I’m only 55. I know I’ve done the job for a long time, but I don’t consider myself an old man yet!’
‘You either have a good work ethic or you don’t,’ says Rob Baxter, who has signed a new long-term deal with Exeter Chiefs
‘When we play with clarity on the two or three areas that are key to help our game, that’s when we play our best’
Sitting in the Sandy Park sunshine, Baxter radiates positivity ahead of his team’s PREM play-off shootout with Mark McCall’s Saracens on Saturday. Baxter and McCall are the PREM’s two longest-serving coaches. Both joined their respective clubs in 2009 and have been incredible servants.
Both have won PREM titles and lifted the European Cup. Their teams have waged war with each other on multiple occasions and in a different world, one of them may well have ended up as coach of England.
But while Baxter shows no signs of stopping, McCall – three years his senior at 58 – has other plans. Saturday will be his final game in charge, if it ends in defeat. As they prepare to do battle once again, the contrast between Baxter and McCall is significant. The former shows no signs of slowing down and has grand plans to take Exeter to even greater heights under the club’s incoming American ownership. McCall, by contrast, has admitted his race is run, though that doesn’t mean he’ll go quietly into the night.
Saracens have won five straight games to put themselves in the race to join Northampton, Bath and Leicester in the play-offs. Exeter, however, are in the driving seat. They are the fourth-placed team, three points ahead of Saracens and with home advantage too. A fearsome contest awaits.
‘To not be excited about what we can potentially achieve would be a bit strange, especially considering where we were last season,’ says Baxter. ‘When we play with clarity on the two or three areas that are key to help our game, that’s when we play our best. When we’re at our best, we look a very good side.
‘But when we’ve been off, you can suddenly see where things can unravel. The bigger the game, the more important it is to get your fundamentals right. I’m working with a group of players who genuinely want to win things. That’s the next ambition for most of this group. Only a few here have.
‘It’s a really exciting time for the club. We’ve attracted genuine high-level investment interest. If you think what’s potentially on the horizon for this team, everything looks like an improving picture as far as I can see.
‘What keeps me going is the excitement of watching a game unfold. I say excitement, but sometimes it’s terror! Whatever you call it, it’s quite addictive. Sometimes you think, “Why am I putting myself through this again?” But the reality is when it’s good, it’s good.
Baxter led Exeter to Champions Cup glory in 2020 when they beat French club Racing in the final
‘What keeps me going is the excitement of watching a game unfold. I say excitement, but sometimes it’s terror! Whatever you call it, it’s quite addictive’
‘While it’s interesting and exciting, I’ll keep going. With this team, the best is definitely yet to come. We’ll put some performances together in the next 12 to 24 months that will leave behind anything we’ve achieved so far. We’ll have to if we ever want to win anything.’
Exeter’s members and shareholders have voted to permit the sale of the club to Black Knight Sports and Entertainment – the American ownership group led by billionaire Bill Foley. Black Knight, who also own Premier League side Bournemouth, are set to inject significant investment into the side, easing the pressure on long-term backer Tony Rowe.
Together, Baxter and Rowe have been Exeter’s dominant figures for more than a decade. Asked about the imminent millions arriving in Devon courtesy of Foley, Baxter is coy but understandably admits his excitement at what’s to come.
Whether or not Exeter make this season’s play-offs, things are looking up at Sandy Park – especially within the context of the 2024-25 campaign, which was awful to say the least.
‘I’ve got to be very careful what I say, because lots of what’s going on is obviously still very confidential,’ he says. ‘But they (Black Knight) are a very experienced company in dealing with sports businesses. They have systems and processes in place they feel are successful.
‘Without doubt they feel they could add to what we’re doing. It’s exciting on two fronts for us. Obviously, there’s the financial situation. But there’s also their experience within professional sport across several sports.
‘That really should be an exciting opportunity for us to develop what we do here on a performance level. Being able to maximise your salary cap is clearly key.
Black Knight Sports and Entertainment are set to inject significant investment into Exeter, easing the pressure on long-term backer Tony Rowe (pictured)
Exeter’s Len Ikitau scores against Leicester last weekend. If the Chiefs can win on Saturday they will be in the PREM play-offs
‘Potential investment in both the playing group and the facilities and then the people who look after that group of players is obviously key as well. That’s probably the most exciting thing about what we can achieve in the future.’
Asked if he thought Exeter would need to spend to the PREM’s salary cap limit of £6.4million to win the league again, Baxter said: ‘I’m not saying you have to. But does it help? Without doubt, it does.’
Whatever happens against Saracens, Baxter isn’t going anywhere for now. He is committed to rebuilding Exeter once again. John’s wait for an extra farm hand will have to continue.
