Baxter's tribute to retiring brother

Head coach Rob Baxter has delivered a glowing tribute to younger brother Richard, just days before he pulls on an Exeter Chiefs jersey for the final time.

Saturday’s Aviva Premiership clash at home to Gloucester will see the 34-year-old notch up his 431st and last appearance for the Devon club, some 16 years after he made his first team debut in an away fixture at Fylde.

It is, according to the Chiefs boss, an “incredible story” and one which underlines the impact the talented back-row forward has had on his hometown club.

This weekend, though, the curtain comes down on a glittering career for Richard, whose last task will be to try and secure Heineken Cup rugby for the Chiefs next season.

“From my personal perspective, we’ve been on a fantastic rugby adventure together,” said Rob. “Richie has been a key part of that all along. I remember talking to him after we won promotion to the Championship at Reading (in 1997). He’d been involved in the club at junior and colts level and started to play a bit of senior rugby that season. He was there watching that promotion game and pretty much ever since then he’s been there or thereabouts in the first team.

“It’s been an incredible story, the amount of good rugby he’s played and he’s played all his rugby at Exeter when we’ve been playing at our highest level, either through the Championship, Premiership or Heineken Cup.

“The longevity of what he’s done has been fantastic, the loyalty he’s shown has been fantastic, but I just think it’s fantastic that someone like that had the opportunity to play for Exeter in the Premiership and Heineken Cup because no one’s deserved it more.

“He’s been a huge part of how the club got to where it is now and it’s going to feel a bit strange for me personally after Saturday not having him around.”

Having lined up for many years as team-mates in the Exeter first team squad, the two brothers have continued to work closely ever since Rob assumed full control of things at Sandy Park in 2010.

Rob continued: “You can’t really give him enough compliments for what he’s done around here. The supporters see the Saturday performance but what they don’t see is the guy who virtually never misses a training session. He turns up on a Monday, however the Saturday has gone, gets everything done, does the full training week and rolls out again.

“There aren’t that many players who do that. It’s relatively rare for someone to do that over the course of a few months, let alone the course of 16 seasons. That’s just the way he’s always been. He’s always been there, been the backbone of the side through some really important transitions for us. The transition from an amateur side to a semi-pro side into a professional side and he’s just taken them all in his stride.

“The one regret I’ve got is that we didn’t get there quite early enough for him to really push for international honours because he would definitely have been capable of playing at that level and playing for a good number of seasons in my opinion.

“By the time we got into the Premiership they were talking about developing for the World Cup and there were already some senior back-row forwards around, like Nick Easter. When they made the cut-off to move on from those players, Rich wasn’t seen as an up and coming player.”

Even without international recognition, Richard has continued to show his worth within the English leagues, establishing himself as one of the country’s leading No.8s. From the old amateur days at the County Ground right through to modern day professionalism at Sandy Park, he has continued to step up to the mark each season he has been called upon.

“I think that’s been one of his biggest strengths,” explains Rob. “No matter what has happened around him, he just lives in the moment; he gets on with everything and does the right things at the right time.”

However, the time has come for Richard to call it a day and begin a new chapter in his life.

“You’ve got to say fair play to him for making this decision now,” said Rob. “We’ve been desperate to offer him another contract and keep him involved, but he’s been pretty determined that this was the right time for him now, he wants to look at other challenges.

“For now he just needs to get away from rugby for a little bit and enjoy not having to get up and train every day. That said, I am sure he will get the bug again about Exeter because he is very passionate about the place. Anybody who has seen him play will know that and hopefully we can tap into his expertise because it’s important we don’t lose people like Richard because he’s been a key part of what we’ve done here and he’s helped glue the team together at times.

“From my perspective, I think it’s very important we find a role he feels comfortable with at the club and we can keep him, both as a guy who can mentor and talk to young players about genuinely being a professional sportsman, and also because of the characteristics he’s got and the big part he’s played in Exeter’s successful move into the Premiership.

“I’ll sit down with Richie and talk about that over the course of the summer. I know at the minute he just wants to get his head down and get back to the farm because he’s enthusiastic about a few things he wants to do at home and crank up the farming a bit.”

One thing you can count on, though, is that Richard won’t be too far away from the Chiefs in the future and with just one final run-out remaining, he’s determined to go out in a blaze of glory this weekend.

“It’s very fitting to have a sell-out crowd at home, in a very important game, a local derby, he couldn’t ask for a better game,” said Rob. “He’s going into it fit and healthy and I’ve got to hope the players give him as good a send-off as they can.”