Exeter boss Rob Baxter heaped praise upon Henry Slade’s leadership after reaching the Gallagher PREM final.
The outside-centre has been incredibly influential in his side’s recent success, and this comes after having their worst season last year, where they finished ninth.
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To say it’s been a resurgent season for the Devon side would be an understatement, but Slade has been one of the main protagonists in his side becoming the first team to qualify for the final from finishing in third.
However, with all that said, he was sent off against Bath Rugby for ten minutes for a deliberate knock-on, but still played his part in his side’s remarkable 27-26 win at the Rec.
“Our most experienced player did the stupidest thing on the field on the day, really,” said Baxter following the nail-biting victory last Saturday.
“Because even he knew as soon as he did it, you can see him almost go ‘oh how have I done that, what have I done’ when he snapped the ball out of his hands.
“But he’s been great, and he talks really well.
“When you’ve been there, you understand you can do things; when you’ve come from behind, before you understand you can do things.
“When you’ve won Premiership finals, you understand you can do it, you don’t limit yourself to what you can achieve.
“I think he’s just helping the lads believe that as well.”
When Slade heads to Twickenham on Saturday, he’ll head there as one of the few members who have tasted glory at Exeter.
He has lifted the title in 2017 and 2020, and was also a part of their European Champions Cup triumph in 2020.
Especially after last season’s harrowing results, Baxter now hopes that some of the departing players can have a similar experience to Slade’s.
“I’ve said to a few of them, the thing I’m most proud of or most pleased with is that they’ve got to experience what I’d call a decent Exeter Chiefs season,” continued Baxter.
“We had quite a few of those lads who’ve never been the people experiencing it, and I was starting to hate it a little bit.
“A guy like Scott Sio, I bring him over, ask him to be part of something, tell him I think we can build something special, and he has four years, and one of the years is the worst year the club have.
“You’re kind of thinking this is just not how I wanted it to be for these guys because he’s committed so fully to everything.
“For him to go on the back of playing in the winning semi-final, now playing in the Premiership final, the same with Christ Tshiunza, the same with Rusi (Tuima), these guys haven’t experienced what a great Premiership season feels like.
“They are feeling it now, and I just hope we can finish it off for those guys.”
