Coronavirus: Exeter boss hails players' commitment to stay safe ahead of final
- Published
Rob Baxter has been in charge of Exeter since 2009
Exeter boss Rob Baxter says people do not appreciate the sacrifices his players and their families have made in order to win the Champions Cup and make the Premiership final.
The Chiefs have been relatively free of Covid-19 despite a high infection rate in parts of the city.
They will play Wasps, who have had 11 positive tests, in Saturday's final.
"What you need to remember it goes beyond the lads not going out for a beer in town," Baxter said.
"Especially around this stage of the season, what you have to ask your wife or your partner to do or your parents to do.
"Asking your wife to go to a different shop, and how the children go to school and how you bring them back, the sacrifices are way more than people really understand.
"The players don't just have to be careful when they're here in the club, the time they really have to lockdown and really be focused is away from here, that's a big commitment that they've made."
Wasps' participation in the final had been in doubt, with Bristol Bears ready to step in should they not be able to play.
But no new cases at the Coventry-based club in a round of testing conducted on Tuesday means they will face Exeter at Twickenham as the Chiefs look to complete a domestic and European double for the first time.
Exeter beat Racing 92 last Saturday to win their first-ever European Champions Cup title.
"They've just won the biggest game of their lives at club level playing for Exeter on Saturday and they've all gone through a testing process and come through it negative," said Baxter.
"That's a massive pat on their backs as to how they've conducted themselves not just all season, but in particular since winning a huge game of rugby.
"It's a reward beyond just the standard rugby reward of winning trophies this year, it's a reward for that little bit of extra commitment and that little bit of extra sacrifice that it's taken at this time of the year."