Rob Baxter fires back at 'disingenuous' Warren Gatland

Representatives from the Lions and the Premiership held talks on Tuesday, but Baxter believes there is a degree of smoke and mirrors within Gatland’s threat.

“[The Lions] have known there is no way to cut our season short,” said Baxter to The Telegraph. “Is there a spare weekend for us to move the Premiership forward? Of course there is not. Everyone has been aware of that and everyone has known when the Premiership season is going to finish.

|So, for the Lions to turn around now and say that [not picking Premiership-based players] is a scenario is a little bit disingenuous of them, because they have known our fixture list for a long time.

“I have got every confidence that Warren Gatland will pick the team that he feels will do the job for him – because that’s the kind of coach he is. If there was a player in the Premiership final who Gatland thought was an important player in his squad, then I don’t think he would leave them out, because I wouldn’t.

“If I am Warren Gatland watching guys play outstandingly well in Premiership semi-finals and finals, do I decide I don’t want them to be part of the Lions tour because they have missed a week’s training? It is not like they will need game time.

“Will it potentially be an excuse to leave out a fringe player? Possibly. But I don’t think it will be based on availability – it will be based on playing performance. It’s an unfortunate situation, but it has not been created by the Premiership.”

The Fijian magician came down to Chiefs from Bath with huge expectations after impressing at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. However, off-the-field problems meant the scrum-half/wing only ever played for Exeter Braves, once in December 2016, without graduating to the first team.

Signed for the club 11th Jan 2011 but was registered under his Aussie passport and therefore cost the club 2 points and £5,000 for fielding too many overseas players. He was then convicted of drink driving, banned from the road for 18 months, and released by the club in May 2011.

He failed to score a single try in his four appearances for the Chiefs. His career has done nothing but rise ever since so that's nice. Hopefully, he'll do much better with Leicester Tigers after signing with them for the 2020/21 season.

In 2013, the Wallabies forward signed a short-term contract to join the Exeter Chiefs in England during the 2010/11 season in order to get game-time prior to the upcoming Super Rugby season and his bid for a spot in Australia's Rugby World Cup squad, having 18 months of action with nerve damage to his shoulder. 

However his stay in the UK with the Chiefs was cut short after suffering a knee injury in training with Exeter following a collision with teammate Paul McKenzie.

The 26-year-old winger arrived at Sandy Park with a big reputation after impressing for Namibia, scoring seven tries in his six games prior to the switch. Never looking comfortable, he scored just one try in just six games during his two-year stint at the club. However, he did make a significant impact off the field with his fantastic community work.