I'm right man to take Exeter forward - Baxter

Rob Baxter is the longest-serving director of rugby in the Premiership, having been in charge at Exeter Chiefs for 16 seasons

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter does not feel it is time for a coaching change despite his side’s poor form.

The Chiefs have won one of their 14 Premiership and European matches this season.

Baxter’s side are second from bottom of the Premiership and ended bottom of their Champions Cup pool, conceding a competition-high 224 points over their four matches.

When asked if the coaching set-up at Sandy Park had become stale since he first took the helm in 2009 he told BBC Spotlight: “There is a genuine danger of that happening. But the danger of that happening and it actually happening are two different things.

“If you spoke to the players now and said do we train the same way as he did a year ago, they would all say, 'No'.

”If they say, 'Do we talk about how the game is changing and what needs to be created and what the better teams are doing?' They would go, 'No, we're not doing the same things, we're not seeing the same things, we're not trying to repeat the same things that we did five years ago or three years ago or two years ago.'”

Exeter were the best side in Europe four-and-a-half years ago

Baxter masterminded Exeter’s rise from playing in England’s second tier to becoming Premiership and European champions.

The Chiefs made six successive Premiership finals between 2016 and 2021, winning in 2017 and completing a domestic and Champions Cup double in 2020.

But the Covid-19 pandemic had a big impact on the club, both in terms of gate receipts and Exeter's conferencing business, which was hit hard by the lockdown.

It led to the Chiefs shedding many of the star players that had guided them to European glory in 2020 and a new, young side being formed in the summer of 2023.

"We're not at salary cap, we've released a large number of experienced players and internationals," Baxter said.

"We had to do that and we are in a genuine rebuilding process.

"Sometimes you've just got to settle down and deal with what we are dealing with right in front of us now, which is expanding and developing the young group that we've got, adding some quality as finances allow.

"We've got the business on a level footing now and we will be expanding our investment in the squad and our investment in the things we are doing in the playing side.

"That's our vision now going forward is that we are going to be on an upward journey.

"Do we have games to win now? Of course we do, we don't want to be involved in any kind of a relegation battle or play-off at the end of the year, we want to be moving on from here, but that is what we're expecting to do."

Exeter and Saracens renew rivalry

Exeter and Saracens topped the Premiership table in six of the eight seasons between 2013 and 2020

Exeter's home game against Saracens on Saturday (17:30 GMT) is the latest chapter in a storied rivalry over the past decade or so.

Saracens beat Exeter in three of their four Premiership final defeats - the final two in 2018 and 2019 coming during the period when the London side were in breach of the league's salary cap, which ultimately led to their relegation in 2020.

Exeter also beat Saracens in a semi-final in 2017 when they went on to win the title, and the two sides were regularly in the top two in the league in the second half of the past decade.

Third-placed Saracens go to Sandy Park as firm favourites having won six of their 10 league matches, and they claimed a bonus-point win at StoneX Stadium three-and-a-half months ago.

But with so many players from both sides having left their respective clubs for pastures new, Baxter said the rivalry does not have the same intensity that it had seven or eight years ago.

"A lot of these guys are on their own journey and their own rivalries will come," he added.

"Right here and now the importance of this game is because we need to win some Premiership points.

"Saracens are a good team, they expect to be in [and] around top ends of competitions, and they've been doing that very well and very consistently.

"We've got to get some points and get a bit of consistency in our game, but from a different end of the table."